Throne speech passes House with NDP support

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberal government survived a confidence vote tonight as the House of Commons voted 177 to 152 to pass the speech from the throne.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and his parliamentary caucus voted for the speech after winning some key changes to legislation last week.

Those concessions included extending benefits for workers left jobless or underemployed by the COVID-19 pandemic and introducing ten days ofpaid sick leavefor any Canadian who has to stay off work because of the pandemic.

The Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois voted against the speech and thethree MPsin the Green caucusjoined them. Newly elected Green Leader Annamie Paul saidearlier today that her party could not support the speech.

Paul said that while therewere good things in the Liberals' agenda-setting speech last month, the Green Party could not support it because it lacked a plan to protect those living in long-term care from COVID-19.

"I'm not just speaking of seniors. I'm also speaking of people with special needs and with disabilities," Paul tolda news conference on Parliament Hill. "Those people are not protected."

Paul also said the speech should have committed toa guaranteed livable incomewhichwould make Canadians more resilient to economic shocks.