Opposition MPs defeat Liberals on vote calling for spring economic update

Government whip Mark Gerretsen insists nothing went wrong Monday evening when opposition parties successfully amended the throne speech to call on the government to table an economic update before Parliament breaks for the summer.

The Liberals were defeated 166 to 164 on Monday evening after four Liberal MPs did not vote because of paired abstentions.

Paired abstentions happen when parties agree to have a member sit out a vote because someone from another party is not able to attend.

Gerretsen told reporters on his way into a cabinet meeting Tuesday morning that everything went according to plan.

"Every single person who was supposed to vote yesterday voted," he said.

The amendment, tabled by Interim Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer, added a passage to the throne speech calling for a spring economic update.

The amendment said that update should include the government's plan to "unleash Canada's economic potential" and explain how it will respect provincial jurisdiction and Indigenous rights.

The amendment includes language inserted by the Bloc Québécois and the NDP, and all three opposition parties voted to support it.

Government House leader Steven MacKinnon said on Tuesday the vote that really matters is the confidence motion on adopting the throne speech, set for Wednesday.

"It was a non-binding advisory resolution of the House of Commons. I suspect you're going to see a lot more of them," MacKinnon said.

The minority Liberal government has 169 MPs, including Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia, who does not vote, except in the event of a tie.

That leaves the Liberals four votes shy of a majority, meaning they have to work with other parties to pass legislation and survive confidence motions.

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. The party was reduced to seven MPs in the recent election but still can hold the balance of power.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said his party's 144 MPs will not "reflexively oppose" the government and will support measures that improve the status quo.

But the Conservatives also have been highly critical of the government's plan to delay introducing a budget — traditionally released in the spring — until this fall.