The budget bill: this year’s behemoth

Here is the budget implementation bill just tabled in the House this morning. As a file, it measures 1.8Mb. As a document, it measures 431 pages. As an act of Parliament, it amends more than 50 other acts of Parliament.

By page count, this year’s behemoth is nearly 200 pages smaller than last year’s behemoth and more than 400 pages smaller than the 2010 behemoth, so perhaps the trend line provides hope for those who oppose omnibus legislation. Mind you, between 1995 and 2000, the budget bills averaged 12 pages.

Once again, a young Stephen Harper would be very disappointed.