In what could be seen as the beginning of the end for Paul Martin's minority government, the Liberals lost a vote on a controversial motion in the Commons Tuesday night.

The Conservatives teamed up with the Bloc Quebecois to defeat the Liberals -- who were backed by the NDP and two Independents -- by a vote of 153 to 150.

Opposition members rose to their feet and broke into applause after House Speaker Peter Milliken announced the result.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper then accused the prime minister of clinging to power "at all costs."

He called on the Liberal government to either: fulfill the terms of the motion and resign; seek dissolution; or make sure it has the confidence of the House -- "which is the only democratic mandate this government has in order to spend our budget money," he said.

Harper then added: "I would challenge the prime minister to rise in his place and call for a vote of confidence if, indeed, he has it in this House of Commons."

Liberal House leader Tony Valeri's response that the vote wasn't a motion of confidence, according to parliamentary precedence, triggered a shouting match in the House.

House Speaker Peter Milliken ruled that the Tory leader's demand was out of order.

Missing MPs

The count could have been even closer.

While all 99 Tory and 54 Bloc MPs voted in favour of the motion calling on the public accounts committee to "recommend that the government resign," the Liberals were missing two cabinet ministers.

Justice Minister Irwin Cotler was in Montreal for a family funeral, and Natural Resources Minister John Efford was in Newfoundland for medical treatment.

Meanwhile, two seriously ill Tory MPs -- Darrel Stinson and David Chatters -- flew to Ottawa from their sick beds in Western Canada so they could be present for the vote.

Independent MP Chuck Cadman, who is recovering from chemotherapy treatment in British Columbia, was not present.

The Conservatives and the Bloc claim the much-disputed vote has enough firepower to topple the government and trigger an election.

But the Liberals maintain the vote holds no such power, calling it strictly procedural in nature.

The motion

The Conservatives tabled the motion on Monday after the House Speaker ruled it in order.

Specifically, it asks the Commons public accounts committee to amend a report dating back to October 28, 2004: "to recommend that the government resign because of its failure to address deficiencies in governance of the public service."

But the Prime Minister's Office said Tuesday's vote would only become a matter of confidence in the government if:

• it is adopted by the Public Accounts committee;
• the committee amends the report, pursuant to the opposition directive; and
• the report is adopted by the House of Commons.

Opposition days

In the Commons foyer after the vote, Martin pointed out that there will be other opportunities for the Conservatives and Bloc to introduce formal non-confidence motions.

"There will be a budget vote and there will be opposition days before the end of the month,'' said Martin, referring to his party's offer earlier Tuesday to grant the opposition three chances at the end of May to express non-confidence.

"We're not afraid to be held accountable," Valeri said at a news conference. "There will be legitimate confidence votes."

He added that the three opposition days, in which opposition parties will set the agenda for Parliament, were to be proposed in a meeting between the House leaders of all four parties.

Eroding confidence

The Liberals' loss on Tuesday may prompt the prime minister to put the federal budget to a vote sooner than planned.

The Liberals must put their fiscal plan to a vote sometime this spring, but have so far delayed it with procedural roadblocks.

It is widely believed the Liberals would rather test their government on the budget -- a scenario in which they could blame the Opposition for voting against promised spending on social programs, cities and the environment.

If all MPs are present for the budget vote, and the Liberal-NDP block can secure the support of all three Independents, then the vote would be a 153-153 tie with the Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois.

In that case, the Speaker would cast the deciding vote.

Tonight's call for the government to resign is one of several attempts by the opposition to bring down Martin's shaky minority government -- weakened and reeling from potentially damaging testimony at Justice Gomery's sponsorship inquiry.

The Opposition argues that since the Liberals lost tonight's vote, they can no longer claim the confidence of Parliament and have lost the "moral authority to govern."

"We have in office a corrupt party which is in the process of ruining this country's finances, and which now is ignoring the democratically-expressed will of the House of Commons," Harper said Tuesday night.

"Mr. Martin's behaviour has gone from dithering to desperate and now to dangerous,'' he added.