The Liberal government avoided its first confidence vote Wednesday evening as MPs adopted the throne speech.
When debating legislation in the House, the Speaker will ask if MPs request a “recorded division,” or a standing vote. If no MP asks for one, the motion is deemed adopted.
No MP asked for recorded division on the throne speech when the time to vote came, meaning it was passed without MPs standing to vote.
“The House of Commons has adopted our new government’s speech from the throne, setting the stage for a strong and focused agenda,” Government House leader Steven MacKinnon said in a social media post on Wednesday.
The adoption came despite Interim NDP Leader Don Davies saying his party would be voting against the throne speech earlier Wednesday.
If the throne speech had proceeded to a standing vote, the Liberals would have needed another opposition party to survive the confidence vote.
Interim NDP Leader Don Davies said the party will vote no to the speech from the throne before question period, and the speech ‘foreshadows $28 billion in cuts that will absolutely hurt working people across this country.’
Davies told reporters on Parliament Hill that the throne speech doesn’t emphasize some key priorities that the NDP want included, such as health care and employment benefits.
“It’s a clear message that this throne speech is not a worker-centred throne speech and it does not deliver the priorities that we heard from millions of Canadians across this country,” Davies said.
“We can’t support a speech that so badly misses the mark in terms of the economic and social policies people need in this country.”
The NDP was reduced to seven seats in April’s election. But with the Liberals just a few seats short of a majority, the party still has some sway in this Parliament.
The Conservatives have said they would back the Liberals in certain circumstances. But neither the Conservatives nor the Bloc Québécois said they would back the throne speech ahead of the time to vote.
Liberals lost vote to amend speech
The adoption of the throne speech came just days after the Liberals lost a vote to amend the speech.
Opposition MPs outvoted the Liberals 166 to 164 on Monday night to include the amendment which calls on the government to table an economic update before Parliament breaks for the summer.
Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman tells Power & Politics the Liberal government is ‘ignoring’ the will of the majority in Parliament after opposition MPs won a non-binding vote calling for a spring economic update.
The amendment was put forward by the Conservatives and included language inserted by the Bloc and NDP. All three opposition parties voted to support it.
The NDP, which had a supply-and-confidence agreement with the previous Liberal government, has said it will not enter a formal arrangement to support Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government.
