Oops... Budget 2006 Passed

Why do I say "Oops", you ask? Because it seems the Opposition forgot to oppose the Tories Federal budget, and it was officially passed at 3rd Reading, with the "unanimous consent" of the House.

From the CBC:

Even though two federal parties had promised to vote against the Conservative government's budget, it passed Tuesday without opposition because of an apparent mix-up.

When the May 2 budget came up for its third and final reading in the House of Commons on Tuesday morning, no one stood to speak. Because there were no apparent speakers, the budget was declared passed by unanimous consent with no recorded vote.

NDP MP Libby Davies told CBC News the mix-up happened because a Conservative MP who had been scheduled to speak first was not in the chamber.

In the ensuing confusion, Davies said the opposition legislators were waiting for the Tory MP to show up and speak before they stood up. They later learned that the budget had been dealt with, at least as far as the House of Commons was concerned.

...

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, who wasn't even in the House when his budget was passed, seemed to be enjoying the appearance of "unanimity" for the budget.

In the afternoon question period, he thanked the opposition for supporting the government during the budget's third reading. Earlier, he joked to reporters that the budget was "even more popular than I thought."

Oops!

Anyway, we all knew it was going to pass due to the BQ's support, but I had to post this because I thought it was pretty funny... it's likely the first Federal Budget ever that was passed with the unanimous support of the House!