Official Opposition parties tend not to support a government’s budget but can vote strategically to avert an election.

The minority Liberal government is counting two kinds of numbers as it prepares its first budget: financial and political.

What the math looks like in terms of spending and cuts will be revealed in Tuesday’s tabling of a plan that Prime Minister Mark Carney says will revamp the Canadian economy.

But it may be mid-November before the Liberals know whether they have the right number of votes to get the budget through the House of Commons.

The budget vote is a confidence motion and, if it fails, the Liberals have been blunt about what happens next:

“A Christmas election that no one wants,” Government House Leader Steve MacKinnon said.

Prime Minister Mark Carney looks

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