No Federal Election...Yet!

By Elaine Macdonald

If you felt a gust of wind coming from the east, it may well have been from the Federal Liberals releasing a collective sigh of relief.

The Federal Government of Paul Martin and the Liberals will stay in power,  for at least another week or so.

With the support of Independent M.P. Chuck Cadman, the House of Commons delivered up an even 152 Yeas and 152 Nays on the budget, so the effort to  topple the Liberals fell into the hands of the Speaker of the House.  It is traditional that the Speaker vote in favour of the Government in an effort to have the House resolve matters, and that is exactly what happened today.

So, with the one extra vote, Paul Martin and the Liberals can  breathe a little easier.

Prince George Conservative M.P. Richard Harris  tells Opinion 250 News, he is not surprised by the result.  " I knew Chuck Cadman would vote for the Government" . Harris says "Chuck is a very constituency based M.P. and he had conducted a very thorough poll  which showed his constituents did not want to head to an election.  I believe he  followed the wishes of his constituents, and took into account some of his own health concerns" The Conservatives are huddling  at the moment to discuss their next move.  According to Harris "We have a job to do as Her Majesty's Official Opposition and will continue to do so."   The Conservatives have an Opposition Day scheduled for the end of the month, at which time they could press another non-confidence motion, however, Harris says it is possible they may abandon that plan.  That will be decided in a caucus meeting, and leader Stephen Harper is expected to make an announcement  about that matter before the end of the day.

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