Opposition MPs back non-binding call 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 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 House of Commons Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer, added a passage to the throne speech calling for a spring economic update.
Story continues below advertisement
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.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy
The amendment includes language inserted by the Bloc Québécois and the NDP, and all three opposition parties voted to support it.
2:11
King Charles outlines federal government's vision in throne speech
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 House 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.
Story continues below advertisement
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.
— With files from Sarah Ritchie
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Sun
22 minutes ago
- Toronto Sun
New Zealand Parliament suspends 3 Māori Party lawmakers for haka protest
Published Jun 05, 2025 • 3 minute read New Zealand lawmakers Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke, top left, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, bottom left, and Rawiri Waititi, bottom right, watch as other legislators debate their proposed bans in parliament in Wellington on Thursday, June 5, 2025. Photo by Charlotte Graham-McLay / AP Photo WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand legislators voted Thursday to enact record suspensions from Parliament for three lawmakers who performed a Māori haka to protest a proposed law. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke received a seven-day ban and the leaders of her political party, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi, were barred for 21 days. Three days had been the longest ban for a lawmaker from New Zealand's Parliament before. The lawmakers from Te Pāti Māori, the Māori Party, performed the haka, a chanting dance of challenge, in November to oppose a widely unpopular bill, now defeated, that they said would reverse Indigenous rights. The protest drew global headlines and provoked months of fraught debate among lawmakers about what the consequences for the lawmakers' actions should be and the place of Māori culture in Parliament. Why the punishment was so strict A committee of the lawmakers' peers in April recommended the lengthy bans. It said the lawmakers were not being punished for the haka, but for striding across the floor of the debating chamber toward their opponents while doing it. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Judith Collins, the committee chair, said the lawmakers' behaviour was egregious, disruptive and potentially intimidating. Maipi-Clarke, 22, rejected that description Thursday, citing other instances when legislators have left their seats and approached opponents without sanction. The suspended legislators said they are being treated more harshly than others because they are Māori. 'I came into this house to give a voice to the voiceless. Is that the real issue here?' Maipi-Clarke asked Parliament. 'Is that the real intimidation here? Are our voices too loud for this house?' Why this haka was controversial Inside and outside Parliament, the haka has increasingly been welcomed as an important part of New Zealand life. The sacred chant can be a challenge to the viewer but is not violent. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. As Māori language and culture have become part of mainstream New Zealand in recent years, haka appear in a range of cultural, somber and celebratory settings. They also have rung out in Parliament to welcome the passage of high-profile laws. Some who decried the protest haka in Parliament cited its timing, with Maipi-Clarke beginning the chant as votes were being tallied and causing a brief suspension of proceedings. She has privately apologized for the disruption to Parliament's Speaker, she said Thursday. A few lawmakers urged their peers to consider rewriting rules about what lawmakers could do in Parliament to recognize Māori cultural protocols as accepted forms of protest. One cited changes to allow breastfeeding in the debating chamber as evidence the institution had amended rules before. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Normally the parliamentary committee that decides on punishments for errant lawmakers is in agreement on what should happen to them. But panel members were sharply divided over the haka protest and the lengthy punishments were advanced only because the government has more legislators in Parliament than the opposition. One party in the government bloc wanted even longer suspensions and had asked the committee if the Māori party lawmakers could be jailed. Most in opposition rejected any punishment beyond the one-day ban Maipi-Clarke already served. Speaker Gerry Brownlee urged lawmakers last month to negotiate a consensus and ordered a free-ranging debate that would continue until all agreed to put the sanctions to a vote. But no such accord was reached after hours of occasionally emotional speeches in which opposition lawmakers accused the government of undermining democracy by passing such a severe punishment on its opponents. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. While the bans were certain to pass, even as the debate began Thursday it remained unclear whether opposition lawmakers would filibuster to prevent the suspensions from reaching a vote. By evening, with no one's mind changed, all lawmakers agreed the debate should end. Every government lawmaker voted for the punishments, while all opposition members voted against them. The law that prompted the protest Thursday's debate capped a fraught episode for race relations in New Zealand, beginning with the controversial bill that the Māori Party lawmakers opposed. The measures would have rewritten principles in the country's founding document, a treaty between Māori tribal leaders and representatives of the British Crown signed at the time New Zealand was colonized. The bill's authors were chagrined by moves from Parliament and the courts in recent decades to enshrine the Treaty of Waitangi's promises. Opponents warned of constitutional crisis if the law was passed and tens of thousands of people marched to Parliament last November to oppose it. Despite growing recognition for the treaty, Māori remain disadvantaged on most social and economic metrics compared to non-Māori New Zealanders. NHL Columnists Columnists Columnists Columnists
Winnipeg Free Press
36 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
‘Lost Canadians' bill tabled after judge sets November deadline for passage
OTTAWA – Immigration Minister Lena Diab tabled legislation today to restore citizenship to 'Lost Canadians' after a court found the existing law unconstitutional. 'Lost Canadians' refers to people who were born outside of the country to Canadian parents who were also born in another country. In 2009, the Conservative federal government of the day changed the law so that Canadians who were born abroad could not pass down their citizenship unless their child was born in Canada. That law was deemed unconstitutional by the Ontario Superior Court in Dec. 2023 and the Liberal government did not challenge the ruling. The government received its fourth deadline extension to pass legislation to address the issue in April. The government applied for a one-year extension but Justice Jasmine Akbarali set a November 20 deadline, saying that should be enough time for the government to implement 'remedial legislation' if it makes it a 'priority.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2025.
National Post
36 minutes ago
- National Post
Michael Taube: Early signs Liberal government may be short-lived
The 45th Canadian Parliament officially began on May 26. There are already some early signs that it may not last very long. Article content Prime Minister Mark Carney and the Liberals suffered an embarrassing defeat in a June 2 vote in the House of Commons. Conservative interim leader Andrew Scheer's sub-amendment to the throne speech, which called for a 'firm commitment' to present a spring economic statement or budget 'that incorporates measures aimed at unleashing Canada's economic potential,' passed by a vote of 166-164. Article content This surprising result was aided by the fact that four Liberal MPs didn't vote due to the long-standing procedural measure of paired abstentions. This is when the parties represented in the House agree to have an MP sit out a vote and be paired with an MP of a different party who can't attend for a particular reason. Article content Article content In fairness, this was a non-binding vote. Confidence in the Liberal government wasn't being put to the test that day. At the same time, in spite of chief government whip Mark Gerretsen suggesting 'we knew the outcome of what that vote was going to be,' it's still a humiliating moment. While there have been a tiny number of instances of a federal government losing a non-binding vote, resolution or motion, it's highly unusual to have it happen this early in a parliament's life — and to have it linked to the Throne Speech. Article content As it happens, Carney and the Liberals survived a second crisis with the Throne Speech the following day when it was adopted by the House of Commons in a peculiar fashion. Article content Article content Political commentators and columnists were briefly caught off-guard on June 4 when the NDP announced they would vote against the Throne Speech. The Conservatives seemed like a good bet to join them. Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-François Blanchet even told the media that 'we have no news about how the caucus is going to vote.' Article content Article content This had suddenly become an interesting situation. The minority Liberal government has 169 MPs. One of them, Francis Scarpaleggia, is the Speaker of the House. Only Green Party leader Elizabeth May appeared to be onside with the Liberals. If the Conservatives, NDP and BQ all voted against the Throne Speech, this would have been regarded as a vote of no confidence in Carney's Liberal government. This would have likely led to the dissolution of Parliament and a new federal election. Article content The whole scenario seemed rather far-fetched. Going back to the polls so early wouldn't be desirable for most Canadians. The voters would blame one or more of the parties for causing this situation. Meanwhile, Elections Canada revealed that the estimated cost for running this year's federal election was $570 million. It would be difficult to convince the Canadian taxpayers, who foot this lofty bill, that they would need to spend this amount (or more) once again in 2025 — with no guarantee that it would lead to a different result.
