Even before Finance Minister Ralph Goodale finished delivering his 2005 budget, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said his party will likely not defeat the government over it.

"There's nothing in this budget that would justify an election at this time," Harper told reporters.

"I'm a lot happier than I thought I'd be. The major priorities in this budget are Conservative priorities."

Stephen Harper gives his reaction to the federal budget.
Stephen Harper gives his reaction to the federal budget.

Harper's party, with 99 seats in the House of Commons, has the power to join with other opposition politicians to bring down Paul Martin's minority government on significant motions, which are classified as confidence motions.

The vote on the budget is traditionally a confidence motion, and former Tory prime minister Joe Clark's short-lived 1979 minority government fell on such a motion.

Jack Layton gives his reaction to the federal budget.
Jack Layton gives his reaction to the federal budget.

Harper's party would not necessarily need to vote in favour of the budget in order to let it pass. The Conservatives would merely need to ensure that they don't have enough MPs in the House to defeat it when the motion comes to a vote on March 7.

The last federal election, held June 28, 2004, left Martin's Liberals with 135 seats in the 308-seat House of Commons. That number has since shrunk to 133 with the death of Labrador MP Lawrence O'Brien and the expulsion of Mississauga-Erindale MP Carolyn Parrish.

Among other things, Goodale's budget offers a modest income-tax cut for all Canadians, a series of cuts in corporate taxes, and a $36 a month increase in Guaranteed Income Supplement payments for low-income seniors by 2007. There will be $12.8 billion more for the military over the next five years as well, another key Conservative demand.

"Does it go far enough? Of course not, but it's moving in our direction...," said Harper. "I certainly don't see anything in this budget that would warrant two elections in the year."

Harper pointed out that the government has left many issues undefined, including how a child-care plan will be organized and a strategy for how Canada will meet its targets under the Kyoto Protocol. The Conservatives will wait and see how those issues are handled in the weeks ahead, Harper said.

BQ, NDP don't like Goodale's budget

As expected, the lack of significant money for Quebec and big changes in the employment insurance program did not please the Bloc Québécois.

"It's just unacceptable for Quebec ... so there's no way the Bloc can support such a budget," said BQ leader Gilles Duceppe, whose 54 seats are not enough to vote down the government on the budget motion without the Conservatives' support.

The New Democrats' 19 MPs have "concerns" about the budget, said leader Jack Layton.

He cited the lack of detail on the Kyoto targets and "a corporate income tax cut that came out of the blue," which Layton said should have been turned into an increase in aid for post-secondary students.

"There's a certain sense of betrayal setting in," Layton said.

He said the Liberals appealed to fear during the 2004 election to convince voters that Harper's Conservatives couldn't be trusted, "and now they've turned around and made the Conservatives happy."