Canada's Conservative budget passes

OTTAWA, March 5 (UPI) -- The Canadian federal budget proposed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's minority government passed with scant Liberal opposition, reports said Wednesday.

The budget was approved by a vote of 125-90, with only 11 of 94 Liberals attending Tuesday night, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., said.

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion had said prior to the vote there wasn't enough wrong with the budget to vote down the Conservatives and force an election, the CBC said.

The budget was described by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty as prudent with only $6 billion in new measures with an eye to a possible recession in the U.S. economy, the Canwest News Service reported.

Meanwhile, the opposition Bloc Quebecois party was set Wednesday to challenge the Conservatives to a confidence vote over proposals to withhold tax credits and grants to film and television productions deemed offensive, the report said.

Another challenge will come Thursday over a plan by the Conservatives to extend Canada's NATO combat role in Afghanistan until 2011, Canwest said.