OTTAWA – Efforts by opposition parties to amend the Conservative government’s latest omnibus budget bill will culminate in roughly eight hours of voting expected to begin Tuesday afternoon.
OTTAWA – Efforts by opposition parties to amend the Conservative government’s latest omnibus budget bill will culminate in roughly eight hours of voting expected to begin Tuesday afternoon.
Bill C-45 rings in at over 400 pages and like its predecessors makes changes to a myriad of rules and regulations, some that were explicitly in the Conservatives’ last budget and some that weren’t.
Among the provisions in the bill are an extension of a hiring credit for small businesses, changes to rules around aboriginal governance and a law allowing for the creation of a new bridge between Windsor, Ont., and Detroit.
The most contentious amendments are those to the Navigable Waters Protection Act, which remove thousands of lakes and streams from federal protection under that law.
The Conservatives said the changes streamline regulation and remove red tape that held up projects along waterways under the guise that they would impede navigation.
Opposition parties say it removes environmental oversight over some of Canada’s most treasured lakes and rivers.