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Canadian Liberals agree not to vote against PM Harper

The Canadian opposition Liberal leader has said his party would not force early parliamentary elections by voting against the minority Conservative government's legislative agenda.

A decision by the Liberals and two other opposition parties to vote against Canadian Prime Minister Steven Harper's priorities would have triggered a fall election. But Liberal leader Stephane Dion said Canadians did not want another election.

"We will not make the federal government fall," Dion said on Wednesday. "We believe it's not in the national interest to have an election now."

In a speech on Tuesday night on its priorities for a new session of parliament, the Conservative government said Canada's military mission in Afghanistan should be extended to at least 2011, but promised a vote on the issue.

The government also promised a sweeping anti-crime bill and major tax cuts and said the country would not meet its climate change commitments under the Kyoto accord.

The first vote on the agenda was expected yesterday with others to follow. Dion said the Liberals would ensure Harper stays in power by abstaining from voting if necessary to avoid a defeat for the government.

Harper's Conservatives have 126 seats, while the opposition Bloc Quebecois with 49 and New Democrats with 30 say they will vote against the government. The Liberals, holding 96 seats, could therefore have brought down the government if it had decided to vote against Harper.

The government's agenda, ``with all of its weaknesses, has to be assessed in light of the fact that Canadians don't want an election right now. They want parliament to do its job,'' Dion said.

Dion spent nearly 45 minutes lambasting the government's priorities before conceding the Liberals would not defeat the government. He accused the government of abandoning Kyoto, being unclear on the Afghan mission and ignoring the needs of the poor.

Harper criticized Dion for disagreeing with the agenda but deciding to keep the government in power.

"As I listened to the leader of the opposition, I must say it reminded me a little bit of the professor who goes through your term paper and marks all over what he disagrees with and then passes you anyway," Harper joked of Dion, a former professor.

Conservatives won elections in January last year to unseat the Liberals after nearly 13 years in power. But as a government without a majority in parliament, the Conservatives have a tenuous hold, relying on opposition lawmakers to pass legislation.

Speaking on Tuesday, Canadian Governor-General Michaelle Jean said Canada should stay directly involved in southern Afghanistan until at least 2011, when it believes the Afghan army and police will be able to provide security on their own.
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