The Conservative government got its 2007 budget past the House of Commons and hinted a settlement is possible in the feud with Nova Scotia over offshore resource revenue.

"I think that sitting down and having a discussion with the Premier of Nova Scotia is going to get us to the point where we all want to be," Peter MacKay, a Nova Scotia MP and foreign affairs minister, said Tuesday after the vote.

"It all comes down to money," said Gerald Keddy, another Nova Scotia Tory MP.

"As we speak, the number crunchers are crunching those numbers," said Robert Fife, CTV's Ottawa bureau chief. "It looks like they probably will be able to get some kind of compromise here. If they do, it's a safe bet to say it will cost Canadian taxpayers more money."

If a deal does come together, "the Conservative MPs will be able to say, 'See, if you stay inside caucus -- unlike Bill Casey -- you can get things done for Nova Scotia."

Casey voted against the budget. He is now an independent Progressive Conservative from Nova Scotia. The Tory caucus punted him after he voted against the budget last week in protest over how it treats the Atlantic Accords.

While the premiers of Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador urged Tory MPs from those provinces to vote against the budget, none did so.

The budget passed 157-103. The Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois voted for the budget while the Liberals and NDP opposed it.

Before the vote, Premier Rodney MacDonald had been involved in discussions with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.

"There does seem to me to be a willingness to take a look further at this issue and hopefully to see the spirit of the (Atlantic) accord kept in order," he said.

"But until I see something signed and on paper, I won't be pleased."

He wouldn't give details on the nature of his proposal.

Harper challenged the provinces to take him to court if they thought he broke a contract, but kept the door open to further talks with Nova Scotia.

"I don't think this is an issue that should go before the courts, but we haven't ruled out any option," MacDonald said.

Flaherty told reporters that discussions with Nova Scotia have been ongoing since the budget was tabled on March 19. He anticipated further discussion about "implementation issues."

In a Saturday letter that was seen as throwing gasoline on the fire, Flaherty vowed no more side deals "for a few votes."

The minister, asked whether these talks would indeed lead to a side deal, said, "there's no side deal."

The feds have restructured equalization. Nova Scotia and N.L. have the option of keeping the old equalization formula and the Atlantic Accords, or the new, enriched formula -- at the price of clawbacks of offshore revenues and a fiscal cap.

Flaherty said Nova Scotia is worried about managing risk so they "won't suffer from making the wrong choice."

Having the new formula without a cap as Casey wanted "would destroy national equalization in Canada," he said.

With the vote out of the way, the federal government insists the budget must be given final passage by the Senate by the end of the month for a host of programs to take effect. Liberal Leader Stephane Dion said the Senate would not kill the budget, but might delay it.

Newfoundland poll

In Newfoundland and Labrador, another hotbed of opposition to the budget, polls conducted for NTV by Telelink indicate that two Conservative MPs intending to run in the next election would face an uphill battle if the vote were held today.

Only 11 per cent say they would vote for Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn, while 48 per cent would not. Almost 58 per cent thought he was wrong to vote for the budget.

Similarly, only 17 per cent would vote for Fabian Manning while 35 per cent said they would not. Fifty-five per cent thought he was wrong to vote for the budget.

More than 500 people were polled in each MP's riding. The margin of error was 4.3 percentage points.

"No surprise at all," said N.L. Premier Danny Williams, a fierce critic of the Harper government over the controversy.

He thought the relatively high proportion of undecideds in each riding would firm up once the men vote for the budget and "betray their province."

On CTV Newsnet's Mike Duffy Live, Hearn said, "personally, I've not been confronted by anybody who wants to argue."

The poll said "34 per cent of the people still think we're doing a good job," he said.

Question period

The Liberals and NDP hammered the prime minister over the alleged breaking of his word, although the object of their questions wasn't in the House of Commons for question period on Tuesday. Neither was Flaherty or MacKay.

"At the end of the day, it's a matter of trust," Liberal Leader Stephane Dion said. "Three provinces betrayed -- who's next? Does the prime minister not realize that when he breaks his word to one region or two or three, he (breaches) the trust of all Canadians?"

Peter Van Loan, the government's house leader, said the Conservative government recognized the existence of a fiscal imbalance -- something the Liberals never did.

He highlighted the spending that the 2007 budget directed to Saskatchewan, then added, "And guess what? None of it came from the member for Regina Wascana."

Van Loan was referring to Ralph Goodale, the former Liberal finance minister.

NDP Leader Jack Layton also accused Harper of breaking his promises to Atlantic Canada and Saskatchewan.

The crux of the dispute is that Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia believe they had a commitment from the Harper government to respect the Atlantic Accords.

The feds say they have respected the accords, but that if those two provinces want to keep it, they must stick with the old equalization formula and not the new, enriched one.

The two provinces say they should get the benefit of any change in equalization without having to give up their offshore oil and gas revenues. Nova Scotia claims the changes could eventually cost it up to $1 billion.

Although the feds have said Nova Scotia will receive an extra $95 million this year, the province counters that the clawbacks begin next year.

In its 2006 election platform, the Conservative party said it would "work to achieve with the provinces permanent changes to the equalization formula which would ensure that non-renewable natural resource revenue is removed from the equalization formula to encourage economic growth. We will ensure that no province is adversely affected from changes to the equalization formula."

With a report from CTV's Robert Fife and files from The Canadian Press