Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne is applauded by members of the Liberal party as he delivers the federal budget speech in the House of Commons on Nov. 4.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
The House of Commons approved the Liberal government’s budget bill Thursday, sending the legislation to the Senate after months of debate and negotiation between the parties.
The more-than-600-page bill, C-15, was introduced in November shortly after Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne released his 2025 budget.
A motion to approve the budget took place that month, which the Liberal minority government narrowly won in a 170-168 vote. Since then, all major parties in the House have worked together to avoid a repeat of that drama, opting to approve key budget-related matters “on division,” meaning the decision should not be considered unanimous, but no standing vote is recorded.
That was the case again Thursday afternoon, as the bill was approved in a low-key fashion with only a few MPs in the House of Commons at the time.
The legislation now moves to the Senate. Several Senate committees have already held prestudy hearings on the legislation. It would be highly unusual for the Senate to hold up or amend a budget bill.
Liberals agree to Conservative budget bill amendments
One of the major impasses related to the bill was resolved earlier this week when the legislation was before the House of Commons finance committee.
On Monday, Liberal MPs agreed to support some Conservative amendments to the bill, paving the way for the key legislation to move forward.
The Conservative amendments added restrictions to a section that would allow cabinet ministers to exempt companies from some federal laws.
The government had said the provisions are meant to assist innovative companies in situations such as testing new products. The Conservatives criticized the proposed powers as excessive.
While the Conservatives ultimately allowed the amended bill to proceed, they did not vote in favour of it and continued to criticize the budget Thursday during its final day of debate on the floor of the House of Commons.
Carney’s major projects, mapped
Conservative MP Pat Kelly criticized the Liberal government for increasing the size of the deficit, worsening the government’s debt-to-GDP ratio and for providing no clear follow-through on pledges to construct major infrastructure projects.
“They promised to build these at speeds unimaginable. We are a year in now. There are no approvals and no real talk about these projects,” he said. “The accountability has been disappointing and that is why we oppose this budget implementation act.”
Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux, the parliamentary secretary to the Government House Leader, responded to Mr. Kelly by saying there was a “fundamental flaw” in his argument about the deficit.
He said Canada has a triple-A credit rating and the government is using “our financial capacity in order to build a stronger, healthier infrastructure here in Canada.”
The legislation includes provisions that will allow the government to offer early retirement incentives to qualifying public servants. It also enacts a host of tax changes mentioned in the budget, including repealing the digital services tax and eliminating the luxury tax on aircrafts and vessels.
It includes new laws, such as the National School Food Program Act, the Stablecoin Act and the High-Speed Rail Network Act.
John Fragos, a spokesperson for the Finance Minister, said in an e-mailed statement that the adoption of the budget bill “underscores the spirit of collaboration the government is taking to advance and ultimately deliver on what matters to Canadians” and called it a good day for Canadians and businesses.