The House of Commons has begun its final deliberations on the massive Conservative government budget bill that will overhaul environment assessment legislation and change many other aspects of Canadian law.

Tony Clement on voting under sleep deprivation

The 425-page bill is expected to be passed by the House of Commons before the end of the day Monday. Although the Senate has been studying the legislation at the same time it was before the House, it could take until late June or early July to get through the Red Chamber before heading to the Governor-General for royal assent.

In an 11th-hour attempt to delay the bills passage in the Commons, NDP finance critic Peggy Nash moved what is called a reasoned amendment that would wipe out the entire legislation and replace it with language that condemns what the government is trying to do.

Weve heard from expert testimony, including the Parliamentary Budget Officer at the finance committee, that this budget implementation act will worsen unemployment and be a drag on our economic growth, Ms Nash told the House.

And if the Conservatives are so confident of what the government is doing in this omnibus bill, Ms. Nash said, why dont they have the courtesy and honesty to Canadians to break it up and allow for a full and honest debate throughout this country?

But her amendment stands no chance of getting passed by the Conservative majority and, because the government has invoked time allocation on the final debate, it is unlikely to create any significant postponement of the legislations passage in the House.

The opposition parties argue there has not been enough time to fully study the ramifications of such a large bill and they say the government is lumping the hundreds of disparate measures into one piece of legislation as a way of avoiding scrutiny.

Much of the bill will require additional regulations before it takes full effect. But the more than 700 clauses cover a gamut of issues under federal jurisdiction and many of them are aimed at smoothing the path of development especially the oil and gas industries.

Shelly Glover, the Manitoba Conservative MP who is parliamentary secretary to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, started the final round of debate by saying the bill will help Canadians across the country secure jobs, growth and long-term prosperity.

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