Blaine Higgs's minority government survives throne speech vote

The minority government of Progressive Conservative Premier Blaine Higgs has survived another confidence vote.

MLAs voted 24-22 in favour of a motion supporting the agenda the provincial government laid out in its speech from the throne on Nov. 19.

The vote broke down along party lines, with 21 PC MLAs and three People's Alliance members supporting the government and 19 Liberals and three Greens voting against.

Had the vote gone against the government, it would have triggered a provincial election.

People's Alliance Leader Kris Austin said his party was keeping the promise it made after last year's election to support the PCs on confidence votes for 18 months and may opt to extend that.

"We're going to follow through with that," he said.

"Frankly, I think the throne speech was kind of in line with a lot of things we've been pushing for, so we're willing to support them further."

Green MLA Megan Mitton said there were elements of the PC agenda she supported, but she voted against the speech over the government's approach to labour relations and climate change.

She also said the government hasn't lived up to its promise last year to consult opposition parties on its agenda.