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May told reporters that just because she is voting for the budget, the Liberals shouldn’t automatically count on her support in the future.

The Green leader said Carney needs to back up the words he said in the House today about reaching the Paris targets.

“The Liberals can’t count on me voting confidence in the government without delivering on the words I heard [from the prime minister],” she said.

I’m back with some more parliamentary procedure trivia.

There’s a way for the budget motion to pass without an actual vote being put on the floor.

MPs can agree to pass any motion “on division” — a kind of “agree to disagree” cheat code.

Basically it means the MPs don’t all agree on the issue before them, but also don’t feel the need to have a recorded vote and just allow the motion to pass.

This is how the Liberals passed their throne speech in the spring.

But for today’s budget motion to pass on division, the Conservatives and Bloc will have to agree to the process.

Any MP from a party that has recognized status in the House can request a recorded vote. If one does, the standing vote happens.

If (and it remains a big if) the Liberals’ budget is defeated tonight, Gov. Gen. Mary Simon can expect a visit.

The most likely scenario would see Carney, having lost the confidence of the House of Commons, ask Simon to dissolve Parliament — sending Canadians to the polls.

More unlikely: The Governor General could ask the leader of the Opposition to form a new government, which could be seen as going against convention.

The last time a Governor General turned down the advice of the prime minister was the 1926 “King-Byng Affair” — which led to a constitutional crisis.

Simon is recovering from a respiratory virus, so if this scenario does play out it could be Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Wagner who takes the Carney meeting as the King’s representative.

Green Leader Elizabeth May just said that she will vote for the budget.

May said she has heard from constituents that they “wanted someone to stop an election happening by accident.”

May still cited concerns about the budget, specifically that it doesn’t mention Canada’s climate targets that were outlined in the Paris agreement.

She asked the government in question period if it is still committed to climate targets, to which Carney responded by saying he will respect the Paris commitments.

The Green leader said after question period was over that this commitment from Carney helped her make the decision.

May’s vote helps the Liberals, but doesn’t guarantee the budget will pass. With her vote, the government needs one more opposition MP to vote for the budget — or two to abstain.

Carney met with opposition leaders before tabling this budget.

But the government hasn't bent over backwards to court opposition parties in the weeks leading up to this vote.

As you likely remember, former prime minister Justin Trudeau essentially adopted big chunks of the NDP agenda as his own — including pharmacare and dental care — to secure its support for a multi-year confidence-and-supply agreement.

And in 2005, former prime minister Paul Martin agreed to spend some $4.6 billion on various NDP priorities to secure votes for his budget in that minority Parliament.

There's none of that with this prime minister. It's not quite a take or leave it approach — but it's close. Carney is essentially daring the Opposition to vote against this budget and prompt an election so soon after the last one.

The fact remains that there's very real damage being done to the Canadian economy and to Canadian businesses right now. So the toughest obstacle to the budget isn't necessarily just in implementing some sweeping changes, nor is it even in seeing if the bet pays off.

The hard part will be making sure the Canadian economy keeps its head above water.

If Canada can stave off a recession, keep the unemployment rate from rising further and avoid further escalation in the trade war, it will be much easier to implement the changes mapped out in this budget. But that is a tall order, and at least some of it is out of the Canadian government's control.

Finance minister sells budget as 'pivotal change in our nation's history'

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne responds to skepticism that his first budget can deliver its claim of $1 trillion in total investment over five years, and defends the value of the budget's $78-billion deficit. Champagne tells MPs from other parties 'to think twice' before deciding not to support the document as it remains unclear where the Liberals will find enough support to pass it.

Under the budget's "downside scenario," the Canadian economy would contract through the quarter running from April to June. Unemployment would peak around 7.4 per cent and Canadian growth would be weak for several years.

"Nominal GDP [would be] on average lower by $51 billion per year over the forecast horizon relative to the August 2025 survey forecast," the budget says.

That scenario would see a further weakening of the Canadian economy — and it's not far-fetched. It's possible that next month's GDP numbers will show Canada slipped into a recession this summer and unemployment has been rising for months.

Despite the stakes of tonight’s vote, and the seriousness of debating the budget, there’s been moments of levity in the House.

At one point Carney made some kind of direct comment to Poilievre, who sits across the aisle.

I couldn’t hear the comment up in the gallery — there’s still a lot of heckling from both sides — but Poilievre threw his head back laughing. Carney was all smiles too.

As qp wears on, Liberals continue to repeat their lines that there is something for all the opposition parties — and their constituents — in their budget. It’s a line they were spinning even before the budget was tabled.

The Conservatives and Bloc continue to push back.

“We introduce a historical budget,” said New Brunswick Liberal MP Wayne Long

“It’s historical,” someone from the opposition shouted back. “Generational debt.”

Question period is as feisty as ever — Poilievre leading with accountability issues. Both sides are getting in their heckling, although the Opposition benches are louder to my ear.

There’s a special guest watching from the gallery: Hollywood star Richard Gere, who is in Ottawa to discuss human rights issues in Tibet.

He received a standing ovation before qp officially got underway, with one heckler from the government side yelling “Gere for leader” — a likely jab at Poilievre.

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