Following the introduction of the budget, the contents of the budget speech are then debated in the Legislative Assembly for a maximum of six days.
The budget debate begins with a motion "that the Speaker do now leave the Chair for the House to go into Committee of Supply." The debate focuses on the government’s financial policies and affords the opposition an opportunity to scrutinize the government’s financial priorities and offer alternatives.
Once the budget debate concludes, a vote on the motion is held. A vote in support of the motion is a vote in favour of the government’s financial policies and is considered a vote of confidence in the government. If the government loses a confidence vote, they are said to have lost the confidence of the Legislative Assembly and must therefore resign or advise the Lieutenant Governor to call an election.
If the Assembly votes in favour of the motion, the Estimates debate in the Committee of Supply can begin. The Estimates debate presents another opportunity for the opposition to scrutinize the proposed spending of government.
