Canada government seen safe from election for now

By David Ljunggren

OTTAWA, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Canada's minority Conservative government, which will lay out its plans for dealing with the financial crisis on Wednesday, is very unlikely to be defeated any time soon, a top opposition official said.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has already made it clear that the government's Speech from the Throne -- which lays out Ottawa's priorities for the new parliamentary session -- will focus primarily on the economy.

Parliament is set to vote on the government's plans later this month and if Harper loses, there will be another election.

The Conservatives won a strengthened minority in a federal election held on Oct. 14, but still need the support of one of the three opposition parties to govern.

"No opposition party is in a mood of defeating this government any time soon, within the next six months to a year," said opposition Liberal legislator Ujjal Dosanjh, a former federal cabinet minister.

"He (Harper) needs to find some compromises. It is incumbent on a minority prime minister to actually try and seek accommodation and compromise," he told reporters.

Dosanjh's comments were the strongest indication yet that Harper will survive the first of many confidence votes in the months to come.

The debt-ridden Liberals have no real interest in going back to the polls so soon after the last election, where they performed so badly that leader Stephane Dion promised to quit once a replacement has been chosen next May.

Instead, they and the other opposition parties are pressing the Conservatives to take drastic steps to help overcome the side effects of the U.S. slide into recession.

Both Harper and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty have committed Canada to doing its part in a global effort to stimulate the world economy, although they may not unveil any major steps soon.

Flaherty is due to deliver an autumn economic and fiscal update by the end of the month but a senior government official said this would not turn into a mini-budget.

"There are no expectations of fiscal stimulus (in the update)," the official told reporters on Wednesday.

"There will be some measures but don't expect it to be in the nature of a mini-budget," he said, adding that Ottawa would not be raising taxes. (Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Peter Galloway)