Throne speech survives, Liberal amendment fails
Last Updated: Monday, October 22, 2007 | 9:03 PM ET
CBC News
The Conservative minority government easily survived its second major challenge when the Bloc Québécois and NDP combined with the Tories Monday evening to defeat a Liberal amendment.
The amendment, defeated by a vote of 203-89, blamed the Conservatives' "inaction" for Canada failing to meet its Kyoto target, and urged the government to take "real action" to catch up in the second phase of Kyoto.
It also restated the Liberal party's position that the Canadian combat mission in Kandahar must end by February 2009 and called on the House to recognize the "good work" of past Liberal programs in fighting poverty.
The motion, the second of three related to the throne speech, was a confidence vote, meaning its passage would have triggered an election.
However, political observers say the motion was written in a way to ensure its defeat because the Liberals are not ready to go to the polls.
The NDP, for example, could not support the motion because it has been insistent that Canada's combat mission in Afghanistan end immediately.
BQ amendment fails
Last Tuesday night's throne speech laid out the Conservative party's agenda for the parliamentary session that included promises for major tax cuts, a vote to extend the Afghan mission until at least 2011 and new crime legislation. It also reiterated the Tories' position that Canada cannot meet the greenhouse gas targets of the Kyoto Protocol.
Last Thursday, a Bloc Québécois amendment to the throne speech failed after the Liberals and NDP joined the Tories to vote it down.
The sub-amendment criticized "the inaction of the Liberal and Conservative governments" over efforts to curb greenhouse gas emission.
It also demanded an end to Ottawa's spending power in areas controlled by the provinces, and called for concrete measures to help workers affected by Quebec's forestry crisis.
The final vote on the main throne speech comes Wednesday. Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion had said last week that if the Liberal amendment failed to pass, his MPs would abstain from voting, meaning it would pass.
