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Canada's Liberals Foil Opposition Plans to Delay Budget

Canada's Budget May Be Delayed by Conservatives Protesting SNC

(Bloomberg) -- Canada’s Liberal government appears to have pulled the rug out from under opposition Conservatives by releasing the federal budget before some expected.

The budget had originally been expected to drop just after 4 p.m., at which point Finance Minister Bill Morneau would rise in federal legislature to begin his budget speech. The opposition party planned on pushing back the release by at least 30 minutes by delaying that speech.

It planned to do this by calling a vote on an unrelated motion at 3:55 p.m., which would have eaten up at least half an hour. There was also talk the opposition was considering other tactics to slow things down, including rising on points of order or having MPs take their time voting, in order to protest the government’s handling of the scandal.

But Morneau gazumped them by releasing the budget without immediately addressing the house. The budget deficit is forecast at C$19.8 billion ($14.9 billion) for the 2019-20 fiscal year.

The budget -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s last before Canada’s next election -- comes as the Liberal government has been roiled by a scandal involving SNC-Lavalin that has seen four high profile resignations.

The Conservatives are angry about a move by majority Liberals on a justice committee to end an investigation into the SNC affair. Liberals have said there has been ample time for the committee to hear testimony.

“We’re certainly going to make sure that Canadians understand that what is going on in Parliament regarding Justin Trudeau’s coverup is really important to know,” Conservative Member of Parliament Lisa Raitt, said in an earlier interview with CBC TV News.

To contact the reporter on this story: Danielle Bochove in Toronto at dbochove1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jacqueline Thorpe at jthorpe23@bloomberg.net, ;Luzi Ann Javier at ljavier@bloomberg.net, Steven Frank

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