Paul Martin says he will call an election later this year

If the budget fails, Mr Martin says he will dissolve parliament, triggering general elections in June.

The Liberal minority government has been beset by a corruption scandal.

The opposition has been pressing for a confidence motion. The government refused to resign after losing a key censure vote on Tuesday.

The government - which lost the vote by 150 votes to 153 - rejected calls for it to stand down, saying the matter was not a formal confidence issue.

Governments in Canada have to resign if they are defeated in the House of Commons in a formal vote of confidence or over key legislative matters such as the federal budget.

MINORITY GOVERNMENT Liberal Party: 132 MPs Conservative Party: 99 MPs Bloc Quebecois: 54 MPs New Democratic Party: 19 MPs Independents: 3 MPs Vacant: One seat Profile: Paul Martin

Mr Martin said on Wednesday of the 19 May budget vote: "That bill will be a matter of confidence."

"The question of confidence in the government must be settled soon, clearly and definitely."

Mr Martin has been fighting to save his minority government, with the opposition Conservative Party and Bloc Quebecois increasingly pushing for an early election.

'Vote today'

Support for the Liberals has plummeted amid a judicial inquiry into irregularities in the awarding of government contracts by a Liberal administration in the 1990s.

A report last year found that C$100m (US$80m; �43m) of government money earmarked to promote Canadian unity in the late 1990s had been given to advertising firms with Liberal connections for little or no work.

Mr Martin has not been implicated in the affair, but was finance minister at the time.

He has promised to call a general election within 30 days of the final report, due at the end of the year.

Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper demanded a confidence vote as soon as possible.