New Westminster-Coquitlam MP Fin Donnelly says he and the rest of Parliament's Opposition MPs will be using every means at their disposal to make changes to the Conservatives' proposed budget before it passes.
That may include a marathon session of up to 30 hours of continuous voting in the House of Commons on a series of amendments proposed by opposition parties.
The Conservative's omnibus budget bill, C-38, has drawn criticism for packing in changes to more than 70 pieces of legislation, many of which have nothing to do with the federal budget.
"This is their hidden agenda. This is what they were hoping Canadians would not find out. The whole reason they're going through a budget implementation bill is because they want to hide these major changes which they couldn't get done as a minority. They want to do it all in one poison pill," Donnelly said in an interview from Ottawa. "The number of changes that they're going to make in this one bill is breathtaking. It's completely undemocratic. Each one of these deserves to be studied in their own right. It should be put in front of the Canadian people for consultation. It should be in front of Parliamentary commit-tees for them to study."
The House is expected to begin voting on a series of 67 to 159 changes to the budget on Wednesday evening.
MPs can fit in about seven votes per hour, meaning the amendment process will be a battle of wills between the parties.
Donnelly said there is some chance the opposition will be able to win some of the amendment votes if just seven Conservative MPs are not present for the vote. However, the budget will eventually pass.
"We've been doing everything in our power but at the end of the day, this is a majority government. If they have the votes, they carry the day," he said.
Most of the amendments seek to mitigate "sweeping changes" to environmental laws, employment insurance, old age security and government oversight, Donnelly said.
One of the most egregious changes for Donnelly, who also holds the title of West Coast Fisheries Critic for the Opposition, is the elimination of one section of the Fisheries Act.
"They are absolutely going to gut the Fisheries Act," Donnelly said referring to the section of the act that triggers a federal environmental review of any development or industrial projects that could harm fish habitat.
Donnelly said the change appears to be planned so Enbridge's proposed Northern Gateway pipeline can escape environmental scrutiny.
The pipeline, if approved, would cross 800 to 1,000 streams in northern B.C. and Alberta, Donnelly said.
The New Democrats have also introduced a motion to find the government in contempt for failing to turn over information on proposed budget cuts for the parliamentary budget officer.
Some Tri-Cities residents have been protesting outside the constituency office of James Moore, Conservative MP for Port MoodyCoquitlam-Port Coquitlam, and leaving placards calling for the end of C-38.
