Liberals accuse Conservatives of using AI for amendments to jobs bill as votes loom

Members of Parliament are expected to vote for up to 15 hours in a row Thursday and Friday on more than 200 Conservative amendments to the government's sustainable jobs bill.

The amendments are what's left of nearly 20,000 changes the Conservatives proposed to Bill C-50 last fall at a House of Commons committee.

Liberals now contend the Conservatives came up with the amendments using artificial intelligence in order to gum up the government's agenda.

The Conservatives deny that accusation.

The Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act, as it's known, outlines how the government must help prepare energy workers for new skills and job requirements that are coming with the global economic transition to clean technology.

Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says the bill ensures government accountability and engagement with the people who will be most affected as the world shifts away from fossil fuels toward renewable energy sources.

It requires five-year action plans, regular reporting and the inclusion of labour and Indigenous leaders in discussions.

The Liberals contend their bill isn't meant to kill energy jobs but rather to lay out a way to create more of them in the renewable energy sphere.

Conservative critic Shannon Stubbs calls it a blueprint for what she deems the Liberals' «wide-scale radical economic restructuring.»

She argues it will put thousands of energy workers out of work by favouring renewable energy at the expense of oil and gas.

Committee meetings descend into chaos

The bill passed second reading in October, with the Conservatives voting against it.

When it moved to the natural resources committee in November for study, the debate descended into a chaotic mess and lengthy filibuster that at one point had MPs screaming at each