OTTAWA — The Liberals are confident the government's throne speech will pass following the final vote scheduled for Wednesday evening, Liberal House Leader Steven Mackinnon said before the party's caucus meeting.
The vote is the first real test of Prime Minister Mark Carney's government, as it is a confidence matter. If the government loses it, it could be forced into a general election.
The Liberals lost a vote Monday evening when opposition members successfully amended the throne speech to call on the government to table an economic update before Parliament breaks for the summer. That vote was not a matter of confidence.
Government whip Mark Gerretsen insisted nothing went wrong with that vote, despite the Liberals losing it by a count of 166 to 164. Four Liberals were paired with three Conservatives and one Bloc Québécois MP, which happens when MPs from one side agree to sit out a vote when members from the other side cannot attend.
Mackinnon would not say whether his party has the support of other parties, referring questions about their support back to those parties directly.
"I think we have an exciting, ambitious agenda for Canada," MacKinnon said.
While they have a minority government, he said, the Liberals have a mandate "to deliver on our program for Canadians."
The speech focuses heavily on building up the Canadian economy by fast-tracking projects it considers to be in the national interest, and moving faster to build new homes.
Opposition party leaders say the speech is vague, relies too much on slogans and doesn't explain how the government plans to scale back its spending.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2025.
The Canadian Press
