After the defeat of the Conservative motion, the opposition tabled 260 motions opposing pieces of legislation that were scheduled to be voted on Thursday evening.
Those motions, known as “opposed votes,” state that there is no support for 260 different lines from the supplementary and interim estimates of the government, and need to be voted on before the actual vote can take place on the legislation itself.
Supplementary and interim estimates are routine bills that are tabled several times each year and act essentially as bridges between the money laid out in federal budgets and the adjusted amounts that reflect what departments actually use or need.
Because the estimates deal with money, they are considered votes of confidence.
And as is the case with any vote on a matter of confidence, defeat on any of the 260 motions opposing different lines of the estimates could trigger an election.
For those tuning in to the #cdnpoli #MarathonVote, here is what it boils down to:
The Conservative opposition simply wants the same briefing on the Atwal-India Scandal that Trudeau provided journalists. 1 hour of time. $0 cost.— Erin O'Toole (@erinotoole) March 23, 2018
