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Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper said he deeply regretted losing the confidence vote in the House Thursday and had some harsh words for the Liberals.

Mr. Harper said the vote would provide “persuasive arguments” for the opposition dedicated to replacing the government in the coming election.

He also accused the Liberals of buying a victory that “would sow the seeds to its own destruction.

“In setting out to win tonight's vote at all costs, the Prime Minister and the Liberal party have again displayed in the full view of all honest and hard working Canadians, the very lack of principle and integrity that underlies their corruption and scandals,” Mr. Harper said.

Speaking to his colleagues after the vote, Mr. Harper said, while they may have lost tonight's battle, they had done so in order to win the war.

By adopting the deal made with NDP, Mr. Harper said the Liberal Party “fatally undermined” its commitment to fiscal responsibility in Canada.

The Liberals' budget passed Thursday in a 250-54 vote, with the Bloc Québécois voting against it.

On the vote for the NDP amendment, which threatened to topple the government, the Liberals managed to tie the razor thin vote 152-152. The tie was broken by the House speaker and Liberal MP Peter Milliken, which allowed the government win the confidence vote 153-152.

Prime Minister Paul Martin acknowledged the closeness of the vote and asked for the opposition's co-operation in the coming weeks.

To which Mr. Harper responded, “a great deal of effort has gone into creating an opposition that is united and vigorous and determined to provide her majesty with a loyal opposition and a potential replacement to the government.”

Mr. Harper also apologized to Quebeckers, saying he was “embarrassed” that the House voted to support the government.

Since the only Quebeckers to vote against government corruption were separatists, Mr. Harper said the Liberals had created the need for a new federalist champion in Quebec.

Nowhere would Thursday's vote be more poorly received than in Quebec, he added.

Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe accused Mr. Martin of persuading Mr. Cadman by saying how awful it would be if the separatist won the vote.

But he said his party would continue to vote on an issue-by-issue basis.

“When we think a bill is good for Quebec, we will support it,” Mr. Duceppe said.

Mr. Duceppe refused to admit his party was wrong in forcing a confidence vote, adding the Liberals lacked the “moral authority” to govern.

“In the coming months, we will see that we were right, and that this government does not deserve to be here,” Mr. Duceppe said.