Liberals will back off budget bill fight if government makes some changes

OTTAWA – The federal Liberals say they are willing to back away from the omnibus budget bill fight if the Conservative government will make some changes to the legislation.

Liberal House Leader Marc Garneau wants the government to pull items relating to fisheries, environmental assessment, EI and old age security and introduce them as separate bills.

He says the Liberals are still prepared to slow the process down with hundreds of amendments if the government won’t budge.

The Speaker of the House of Commons is expected to rule today on how over 1,000 proposed changes to the bill will be handled in the Commons.

The bill is more than 400 pages long and changes more than 70 laws.

Opposition parties say it goes too far, but the government says bill is needed to keep the economy perking and to create jobs.