Quebec's legislature has voted against an Opposition motion that could have brought down Premier Jean Charest's minority government.
Action Démocratique du Québec Leader Mario Dumont tabled a motion last week calling for the legislature to be dissolved because of the Liberals' refusal to abolish school boards.
But without Parti Québécois support, Dumont's motion was easily defeated late Tuesday in Quebec City by a margin of 72-39.
Dumont claims the province's school boards are overly bureaucratic and divert resources from students.
"The money has to really be spent on Quebec's education" and not simply on more administration, Dumont said while debating the ADQ motion ahead of the vote.
Charest countered by accusing Dumont of lacking any long-term policy ideas.
"Accumulating sound bites for 10 years doesn't make for a political ideology," Charest said.
He also criticized the ADQ for failing to state how much the government would actually save if school boards were abolished.
Deputy ADQ leader Gilles Taillon said the motion's defeat doesn't signal the end of efforts to offer Quebecers an alternative to the Liberals.
"We will continue to explain our positions, and hope that an election will come soon," the finance critic said Tuesday. "We are gaining credibility, I am sure. The population wants change. We propose change."
The Liberals have 48 seats in the 125-member national assembly after the spring's election, compared with 41 for the ADQ and 36 for the PQ.
With files from the Canadian PressRelated
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