Paul Martin’s and the Liberal Party’s Fate May Rest on One MP

At 5:45 PM EDT there will be budget votes that the Conservatives hope will bring down Prime Minister Paul Martin and his Liberal Party controlled Canadian government.

Read the story from The Globe and Mail here:

Independent MP David Kilgour will vote in favour of the federal budget but against an NDP amendment, a move that backs opposition efforts to topple the government and leaves the fate of Parliament effectively in the hands of a single member.

Mr. Kilgour has said he was undecided on which way he would vote, but in recent days expressed concern about the direction of the minority Liberal government and the decision to give rookie MP Belinda Stronach a cabinet posting upon her defection from the Conservatives.

Thursday afternoon, however, Mr. Kilgour decided to follow the lead of the Conservatives and give only his support to the broader budget, but not the amendment struck as part of a Liberal deal with the NDP…

Within hours, MPs of all stripes will face off in the House of Commons to decide whether Canadians will be sent to tIhe polls just a year after their last trip to the ballot boxes to pick a government.

Flap wagers on a mid-summers election for Canada.

Stay Tuned!