The federal budget easily passed in the House of Commons on Tuesday, an important confidence vote for Prime Minister Stephen Harper's minority government.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty gets a standing ovation from fellow Conservatives as they easily survive a confidence vote on the federal budget in Ottawa on Tuesday.
(Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)

The Bloc Québécois threw its support behind the Tories' fiscal plan, allowing it to pass 176-119.

If the budget hadn't passed, it could have triggered an election.

Harper said the budget vote meant his government "survived another test" and suggested its passage means an election is not on the immediate horizon.

"There are a lot of important tax measures, a lot of important social measures, environmental measures [in the budget]," Harper said.

"So I'm glad to see us moving forward on those things and I hope in the next few months we'll be able to get done the things Canadians elected us to do."

The prime minister's comments come despite signs the Tories have been preparing for an election, with campaign-style advertising and announcements. Pundits have suggested the Tories want to take advantage of strong poll numbers and wrest crucial seats from the Bloc after the poor showing of their provincial counterparts in Monday's Quebec election.

MP kicked out of Liberal caucus for supporting budget

Liberal and NDP members of Parliament voted against the budget, while the Conservatives and Independent MP Joe Comuzzi voted for it.

Comuzzi, a veteran MP from Thunder Bay, Ont., was kicked out of the Liberal caucus on March 21 when he announced he would support the Conservative budget. When he cast his vote Monday, he received a standing ovation from the Conservatives.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty presented the budget on March 19, promising incentives for environmental initiatives and a string of small personal financial breaks for Canadians, including income tax measures.

One of the cornerstones of the budget is a promise to spend an extra $1.5 billion in the coming fiscal year to correct the so-called "fiscal imbalance" — the claim that the provinces are not getting their fair share of the money collected by Ottawa.

Quebec, which saw the Liberals re-elected Monday, in a minority government, is pegged to get the bulk of the new money, roughly $698 million.

Saskatchewan would follow with $226 million, meaning that it would get the most per provincial resident, at $230.

With files from the Canadian Press