Ontario Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis, who was taken away by ambulance to hospital after experiencing chest pain during question period on Wednesday, said he's fine and will be at the budget vote.

"I am giving the nurses a hard time and I want to get the heck out of here," the Scarborough-Agincourt MP said in an e-mail sent from hospital on his BlackBerry to The Canadian Press.

"I feel fine. ... There is nothing wrong with my heart."

CP reported Karygiannis had been suffering from heartburn he blamed on the salad-bar lunch in the parliamentary restaurant.

His hospitalization caused concern, one day ahead of a crucial vote in the House of Commons on the government's budget that is considered to be a matter of confidence.

If the vote fails, Prime Minister Paul Martin has said he would call an election.

CTV's Rosemary Thompson reported that fellow Liberal MP and physician Keith Martin went to the 50-year-old MP's aid after he reported discomfort.

"All of a sudden I get heartburn, a pain underneath my chest," Karygiannis said in an interview with CP.

"I kneel over, they tell me I've changed colour, I went red and I was sweating."

Montreal-area MP Bernard Patry, also a medical doctor, took his pulse and gave him a pill for heartburn.

Soon after, he was escorted from the chamber and Liberal whip Karen Redman called an ambulance.

"They panicked and called an ambulance," Karygiannis said in another e-mail.

"I will be there for the vote (Thursday). There is no way I will be kept away."

Every vote counts

Even with the surprise defection of high-profile Belinda Stronach to the Liberal party on Tuesday, there is no guarantee the government will win Thursday's vote.

Now that Stronach has defected, the Liberals and the NDP have 151 votes and the Tories and the Bloc 152.

Carolyn Parrish, a former Liberal MP who now sits as an Independent, has said she will vote with the Liberals, bringing their numbers up to 152.

That leaves the two remaining independents, David Kilgour and Chuck Cadman. If both vote against the budget, the government will fall.

If one votes with the Liberals and the other against, there would still be a tie.

And that would likely be broken in favour of the Liberals by House of Commons Speaker Peter Milliken.

"Obviously health has become a huge concern on the Hill in the last few days," Thompson reported.

It was not clear if the illness of one Liberal would have changed things.

That's because the Grits have already said they will sit out one member in order to be fair to the Conservatives who will have one cancer-stricken member absent.

With files from The Canadian Press