OTTAWA - The Conservative government is flexing its majority muscle, forcing an early vote in Parliament on a massive crime bill that critics say will send Canada down the route of the failed U.S. war on drugs.
The vote in the House of Commons restricts debate on the omnibus legislation to two days before punting it to a Conservative-dominated committee for study.
The Conservative motion was approved 158-133.
The bill includes nine separate pieces of legislation that previous Parliaments failed to pass, including several highly contentious items.
NDP House leader Thomas Mulcair says New Democrats will move to have the most controversial aspects of the bill hived off for separate debate.
However he predicted the government will be "bloody-minded" about the bill and will use the guillotine of its parliamentary majority to cut off public debate.
