Donnelly Participates in Round-the-Clock Voting Marathon

Fin Donnelly, Member of Parliament for New Westminster-Coquitlam & Port Moody joined other NDP opposition members in around-the-clock voting to protest the Conservatives’ omnibus “Trojan Horse” budget bill, one of the most undemocratic bills in Canadian history.

“It was important to do everything we could to oppose this short-sighted Conservative bill that guts environmental protection, threatens health care and weakens pensions in this country,” said Donnelly. “Thousands of Canadians have been voicing their outrage over the bill that amends 70 pieces of critical legislation, and I'm proud to represent their voices in Parliament.”

The Conservative government is ramming through a 425 page budget omnibus which threatens fish habitat, repeals the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, and weakens Old Age Security and EI. After the government flat-out refused the Official Opposition's request to split up the enormous bill, the NDP then introduced hundreds of amendments in an attempt to improve the bill. The Conservatives have stubbornly rejected the NDP's proposals, leading to the marathon voting session.

“Under the guise of a budget bill, the Conservative government is undoing decades of environmental progress and dismantling programs that Canadians have come to rely on, with little Parliamentary oversight. It is an attack on our democracy. It is absolutely appalling.”