Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper admits he lost the battle, but he called the Liberals' victory a pyrrhic one.

"We may have lost tonight's battle, but you've done it in order to win the war," he told his caucus shortly after it lost an attempt to defeat the Liberal minority government on a budget amendment vote early Thursday evening.

The House of Commons vote was tied at 152, so Speaker Peter Milliken voted to continue debate on the bill -- and by extension, prolonged the government's life.

On Monday, Conservative House Leader Jay Hill had said if his party didn't win the budget vote, then it likely wouldn't push for another non-confidence motion this legislative session.

The session ends on June 23.

Conservative MP Monte Solberg told CTV Newsnet that "we know we can't take the country to the brink every week," so the party will be responsible.

In his own comments outside the House of Commons, Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe said he still expects an election within ten months, but intends to abide by the day's result in the meantime.

"We will be respecting the vote, we won't do like the Liberals have done," he told reporters. "The procedural tactics are done for now."

When asked whether he intends to introduce a non-confidence motion during the three Opposition days promised for the end of this month, Duceppe was noncommittal.

"I have never revealed my strategy before, and I don't intend to start now," he said in French.

Harper looks ahead

Harper sounded like more he was thinking ahead to an election on the more distant horizon.

"While tonight's vote is an unfortunate result for the country, it will provide us Conservatives with persuasive arguments for change when Canadians finally and inevitably go to the polls," he said.

"Tonight, the Liberals bought a pyrrhic victory, one that will sow the seasons of its own destruction," he said.

"In adopting a budget proposed by the NDP, and engaging in an unprecedented and irresponsible series of spending promises, the Liberal Party of Canada has fatally undermined its commitment to fiscal responsibility," Harper said.

The budget vote was in two parts. The Tories voted for Bill C-43, which implements the budget tabled by the Liberals on Feb. 23.

But they voted against an amendment, Bill C-48, which implemented a deal reached last month between the NDP and the Liberals to boost spending by $4.6 billion on NDP priorities and defer corporate tax cuts.

Speaking to CTV Newsnet, former Liberal cabinet minister Brian Tobin said whatever Harper's words, the Tories' loss of the budget vote -- which would have triggered an election had they won it -- had to deflate the party.

The caucus gave Harper a rousing cheer after the vote, clapping their hands and chanting "STE-phen! HAR-per!"

Tobin speculated, however, there will be a lot of talk amongst Conservatives in the next week as to whether Harper handled this situation well.

There might also be talk about Harper's management of his caucus, he said, pointing to Belinda Stronach's defection to the Liberals only days before the crucial vote.

Tobin noted that in comparison, Jean Chretien and Paul Martin worked together through three elections, even though there were tensions between the two men.

NDP Leader Jack Layton was identified as a winner by Tobin for getting some of his party's priorities added to the budget.

"We're thrilled," Layton told Newsnet.

Now, his party wanted to see the Liberals make sure the budget was passed through the remaining stages as quickly as possible.

"Canadians want to see something positive out of this House. I think there's some enthusiasm about this budget, and let's just get it adopted. That's our main goal right now," he said.