MONTREAL, Canada (AFP) - A fire on a second-hand submarine that killed one member of the Canadian crew is a new blow to Canada's minority government which risked a vote of confidence and a possible downfall in parliament last night.

The accident on the Chicoutimi, which caught fire while being brought to Canada from Britain this week has added to mounting political pressures for Prime Minister Paul Martin.
Lieutenant Chris Saunders died and two other members of the 57 crew were injured.

Martin planned to visit the injured today in Ireland.
"I think that, if I'm able - and that will totally depend on the state of their health - if I'm able to go to the hospital in Sligo and see them, I will go to Sligo," he said.

Hours earlier in the House of Commons, conservative opposition chief Stephen Harper reproached the government for not doing enough to update defence equipment, facing obsolescence after a decade of strict budget-tightening measures.

Martin presided over those cuts as finance minister, essentially forcing Ottawa to buy four old submarines, including the Chicoutimi, from Britain that took several years to repair.

"Chris Saunders may have paid with his life for our government's parsimony," the conservative daily National Post said.

"We need to have submarines to maintain security in Canada, and these submarines were the best that were available at the time," Defence Minister Bill Graham said.

Without dismissing the possibility of suing Britain over the submarine, Graham stressed that the accident "calls for a very serious investigation to learn the causes and determine what actions will follow."

The accident came as the government fought for its survival in a vote of confidence in Ottawa last night.

The showdown, which could be determined by just one vote in the 308-seat House of Commons. The French speaking regional party, Bloc Quebecois, has tabled an amendment to the government programme committing it to spending budget surpluses on provincial governments.

After a cabinet meeting, Martin said the move would remove the rights and obligations of the federal parliament to control the budget.

Martin evaded questions on whether the government would resign immediately if it loses the vote or try to defeat the Bloc proposal by voting against the amended Conservative proposal.

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