OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper's minority government has easily survived the first confidence test of its latest budget.
A Bloc Quebecois sub-amendment to a motion approving Tuesday's budget was defeated by a vote of 230-45.
Liberals and New Democrats joined Harper's Conservatives to defeat the Bloc sub-amendment, which slammed the budget for failing to adequately aid the ailing forestry and manufacturing sectors or transfer billions to the provinces for post-secondary education.
It also deplored the budget's failure to eliminate the federal spending power.
The spending power reference prompted the NDP to vote against the sub-amendment, even though the party is prepared to force an election over the budget.
Liberal Leader Stephane Dion has said his party will not defeat the government over the budget. A Liberal amendment to the budget motion, to be voted on Monday, has been crafted carefully to ensure it won't win enough support from other parties to topple the government.
When the main budget motion is put to a vote Tuesday, Dion is planning to allow a few Liberal MPs to vote against it while the rest absent themselves from the Commons.
