Federal Budget: 1) Carney defends green pledge to get Budget 2025 passed in narrow vote; 2) Budget clears Commons by 2 votes, preventing winter election; 3) Advocates disappointed budget offered no funding for IVF, despite campaign pledge

1)Carney defends green pledge to get Budget 2025 passed in narrow vote

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Canadian Press Staff, Nov. 18, 2025.

Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday defended making a commitment to carbon emission targets to get the government’s spending plan over the finish line.

Carney told reporters before the weekly cabinet meeting in Ottawa that he was “very pleased” his government narrowly won the crucial budget vote on Monday night.

“This is about empowering Canadians. It’s about helping all Canadians get ahead, protecting our way of life, protecting our transfers to Canadians, getting affordability back,” Carney said.

The Liberal budget passed a confidence vote in the House of Commons by a tally of 170 to 168. Four MPs didn’t vote — two Conservatives and two from the NDP — and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May added her support late in the day.

May initially said she couldn’t vote for the budget without changes to the climate commitments, even stomping on the document for dramatic effect outside the House of Commons on Nov. 7.

Then in question period Monday afternoon May asked if Carney remained committed to Canada’s 2015 Paris climate pact targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions sharply by 2030.

“I can confirm to this House that we will respect our Paris commitments for climate change, and we are determined to achieve them,” he said.

He also said a nature strategy will be released soon, keeping Canada on target for its commitments on biodiversity as well.

That was enough to sway May to vote with the Liberals, a vote that earned her grateful applause from the Liberal caucus.

Carney was asked Tuesday how his climate pledge squares with his statements about working with Alberta on a possible pipeline project to export more Canadian oil and gas to overseas markets from the B.C. coast.

He said part of Budget 2025’s goal is to build the country into an “energy superpower.”

“That means all of Canada. That means all forms of energy,” he added.

“Canada is blessed. We’re blessed with immense natural resources, everything from hydroelectricity through to conventional oil and gas. We’re part of an energy transition, we’re going to help to lead it.”

The Liberals are now set to introduce their budget implementation bill in the House of Commons Tuesday afternoon, to make it possible to act on the commitments made in the budget document.

On Tuesday night Carney leaves for the United Arab Emirates for meetings before travelling on to Johannesburg for the G20 summit later in the week.

— with files from Craig Lord, David Baxter and Catherine Morrison

2) Budget clears Commons by 2 votes, preventing winter election

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Kyle Duggan and David Baxter, Nov 17. 2025

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government narrowly survived a crucial budget vote Monday evening, one that could have sent Canadians to the polls this winter but instead propped up the minority Liberal government.

Members of Parliament ended weeks of drama and speculation about the Carney government’s fate by voting 170 to 168 on a confidence motion that expressed support for the fall federal budget.

Carney was elected in the spring on a campaign to end U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff war, but only secured a minority government mandate — leaving the Liberals scrambling to secure support for Carney’s signature budget for weeks.

Two opposition MPs each from the Conservatives and the New Democrats did not cast votes in the House of Commons, which was key to preventing the government from falling. Those were NDP MPs Lori Idlout and Gord Johns, and Conservative MPs Shannon Stubbs and Matt Jeneroux.

Both parties otherwise voted en masse against the budget, as did the Bloc Québécois.

While interim NDP leader Don Davies railed against the budget as bad policy, he at the same time said there is “strong consensus in this country that Canadians do not want an election basically six months after the last one.”

“We have serious economic issues. Mr. Trump is changing his mind every day and it’s not the right time for our country to plunge into an election,” Davies told reporters shortly after the vote.

Davies defended the abstentions in his party as routine, then bristled when asked why the NDP was propping up the Liberals once again.

“There are abstentions on the Conservative side, too. Are they propping up the government? Why don’t you go ask (Conservative Leader) Pierre Poilievre?”

After Poilievre ducked out of the chamber for the night, he did not appear before the television cameras to speak with media after the vote.

Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia, who did not cast a vote and does not normally do so, has the ability to cast a tiebreaking vote, which means he could have prevented the government from falling if just two of the abstaining MPs from either party had cast theirs against the Liberal motion.

In a dramatic turn just hours before the vote, Carney garnered support from Green Party Leader Elizabeth May by committing to the House of Commons that Canada will meet its Paris Accord climate commitments.

In an exchange with May in the House, Carney pledged for the first time to meet Canada’s Paris climate commitments.

“We will respect our Paris commitments for climate change and we’re determined to achieve them,” Carney told the House.

Just last week, May said she could not support the budget without significant changes to environmental policy in the document. But she said Monday that Carney’s “firm commitment” to the Paris targets swayed her.

“Against what I had expected to say to you today, I’m going to vote yes,” she told reporters after question period.

Signed in 2015, the Paris agreement calls on countries to limit greenhouse gas emissions to keep average global warming to well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. For Canada, that includes a 2030 target to cut emissions to 40 per cent below 2005 levels.

Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont had also amped up the drama over the controversial budget weeks ago, when he crossed the floor from the Conservative benches to join the government side, securing the Liberals another House vote.

Even amid all the political theatrics and high-stakes manoeuvring, there were telltale signs all along that the budget would ultimately pass.

While the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois had indicated in advance they would not support the budget, four Conservative MPs did not vote on amendments to the budget last week that were also considered confidence matters. While most cited technical issues or other reasons to explain their absence from the vote, Alberta Conservative MP Matt Jeneroux did not.

Jeneroux, who did not participate in Monday’s vote either, had abruptly announced his intention to resign as an MP earlier this month amid rumours he was being courted to join the Liberals.

Jeneroux’s initial resignation announcement did not give a date for his departure. Poilievre later said on social media that Jeneroux will be resigning in the spring. Following Poilievre’s statement, Jeneroux said he still didn’t have a date for his departure but it would be “likely this spring.”

The Conservatives had meantime dined off of the drama over the prospect of an early election for weeks, warning their core supporters that another contest could be just around the corner with near-daily reminders in their fundraising emails.

On Monday, both parties solicited funds from their grassroots to fill up party war chests over the prospect of an early election, while pointing fingers at the other for threatening to drag the country back to the polls years ahead of schedule.

“If (the budget) fails, we’ll be launched into a weeks-long costly winter election that will require every Liberal pitching in to ensure we can power our teams across the country,” Azam Ishmael, Liberal party national director, wrote in an email Monday.

— With files from Sarah Ritchie and Craig LordNews

3) Advocates disappointed budget offered no funding for IVF, despite campaign pledge

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Sarah Ritchie, November 20, 2025

Advocates say they’re disappointed the Liberal government did not make good on its campaign promise to fund in vitro fertilization treatments in the recent federal budget.

The Liberals pledged in April to create a program to provide up to $20,000 per cycle of IVF, something they estimated would cost $103 million annually starting this fiscal year.

There’s no mention of IVF in the federal budget.

The office of Health Minister Marjorie Michel would only say the government knows the cost of such treatments presents a challenge for many Canadians and it would have more to say “in due course” — the same response it has provided since the election.

Baden Colt said that funding would be “life-changing” for her family.
Colt has known since she was 13 that she wouldn’t be able to get pregnant. That’s when doctors told her it wouldn’t be safe to carry a child while taking the medication she needs to control her epilepsy.

After three rounds of IVF and the help of a surrogate, Colt and her husband Zane welcomed their girl, Scottie, in 2023.
She estimates it cost nearly $70,000.

“My life and my husband’s life have revolved around planning and scrimping and saving and prioritizing this, because of how important parenthood is to us. But it’s not easy, and I can’t even imagine being faced with this without a 15-year head start on saving,” she said.

A standard round of IVF can cost between $10,000 and $30,000, and more than one cycle is often required. Many prospective parents face additional costs for travel and time off work to undergo treatment.

The provinces and territories provide varying levels of funding, with most offering refundable tax credits or grants to cover a percentage of costs. B.C. provides funding up to $19,000, while Quebec covers the cost of one full cycle per patient. Alberta, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories provide no coverage at all.

Ontario’s government recently announced a tax credit for 25 per cent of the cost, up to $5,000. Colt, who lives in Ontario, was glad to see that announcement.

“But the fact that Canadians are only getting help based on what province they’re in, and whether their provincial government has decided to step up or not, that’s really disheartening,” she said.
Carolynn Dubé, the executive director of advocacy group Fertility Matters, said the issue has received broad cross-party support at the federal level in the past.

Former prime minister Justin Trudeau directed his ministers of health and women and gender equality to explore ways to help more Canadians afford the treatment.

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government is looking to slash government spending and pour billions into national defence while focusing on major infrastructure projects and expanding the economy.

Dubé argued that Canada’s record-low fertility rate is an economic issue, one with real impacts on productivity.

“When you’re diagnosed with infertility, the data shows that it has the same negative impact on your mental health as being diagnosed with a more severe health concern like cancer or heart disease, and yet we’re not treating it the same,” she said.

Infertility affects about one in six people in Canada.

Dr. Prati A. Sharma is president of the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society, which represents about 900 reproductive health professionals.
She said her group met with the federal government after the budget was released and she believes it’s still committed to launching the funding.

“It is disappointing that it wasn’t in the current budget, but the fact that they’re willing to put in the work to make this happen, hopefully soon, I think that’s very reassuring,” she said.
Sharma said she wants the government to create an expert advisory board to help fine-tune the details.

Baden Colt has turned her advocacy into a career by launching a business called Not My Tummy, which helps intended parents use social media to find surrogates.

The Colts also have found their own match with a surrogate they hope will help them complete their family. They’re preparing for the expensive and emotional process of IVF again.

After two and a half years with her daughter, Baden Colt knows it’s worth it.
“There were so many years that I wondered whether this was ever going to happen for me,” she said..