Later this afternoon, Liberal MP John McKay will get his first chance to convince his colleagues to back his latest private members' bid to increase transparency on Canadian mining companies operating abroad, which would require that all payments made to foreign governments be reported to the foreign affairs and natural resources ministers.

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On the House to-do list today: report stage debate of the government's bid to modernize the rail safety regime, as well as its proposal to tighten up the witness protection system.

Outside the Chamber, Liberal MPs Marc Garneau, Ralph Goodale and Judy Foote hit the National Press Theatre, where the trio will detail the questions that, in their view, the PM 'must answer' on what the party has dubbed 'the PMO ethics scandal.'

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It's worth noting that, if Van Loan's bid to lengthen the sitting day had stopped there, he may well have garnered the grudging support of the opposition, who would be mindful of the need not to appear to be shirking their parliamentary duties by objecting to the notion of sitting until midnight -- or later -- every night but Friday. 

Instead, the government chose to up the ante by including heavy, if temporary, restrictions on the ability of other parties to focus the attention of the House on non-legislative business -- specifically, concurrence motions and emergency debates.

This, not surprisingly, went over like a lead balloon with the New Democrats, who dubbed it 'superclosure', and fired back with an amendment that would give Van Loan his extra hours, but scrap the additional -- and, it could be argued, somewhat unnecessary -- limitations on debate, while simultaneously doubling the time allotted for Question Period from 45 to 90 minutes.

That amendment will, of course, almost certainly fail when it comes to a vote, which, under the aforementioned closure motion, will likely happen later today, although there are still a few procedural tricks left in the box that could delay the inevitable until Thursday.

While that battle rages in the Commons, the Senate expense scandal continues to consume the Other Place, where Government Leader Marjory LeBreton is expected to unveil her vision for a more stringent regime later this afternoon. 

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The motion also contained what was almost immediately viewed as a procedural poison pill by the opposition, in the form of a provision that would drastically limit the ability of opposition parties to put forward issues not on the government's to-do list: namely, concurrence motions, and requests for emergency debates, both of which would be consigned to the wee small hours of the morning after government business had wrapped up for the day.

Today, the New Democrats responded to what the party has dubbed, somewhat sardonically, as "superclosure" with a counter-proposal that would give the government every minute of extra House time envisioned in the original pitch -- without, however, the additional limitations on debate, and, perhaps most mischievously, with a new provision that would double the length of time currently allotted to Question Period from 45 to 90 minutes.

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As is traditional at such events, the PM will not be taking questions -- not, that is, from the media, or in public -- nor will he be in the House to do so this afternoon; after the meeting wraps up, he'll head off to the airport, where a waiting jet will whisk him off to Peru to begin a four-day trade-related sojourn through South America.

Fortunately for those reporters who are unable to query the PM directly, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson -- who, as attorney general, is also the chief law officer of Canada -- will hit the mic in the Commons Foyer at noon, ostensibly to discuss the latest backbencher-backed crime bill that his government intends to support -- which, at last count, would be pretty much every one that has been introduced thus far, so not exactly a shocker -- before opening the floor to the media to quiz him on anything that happens to be on their collective, or respective, mind.

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It's worth noting that, due to that pre-existing travel commitment, the PM will not be in his seat in the House when the Commons gets back to business on Tuesday, but will instead leave the task of fielding the inevitable flurry of queries on the recently revealed financial arrangement between his chief of staff and the senator he personally selected to represent Prince Edward Island in the Upper House to one of his cabinet colleagues.

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Earlier today, Government House Leader Peter Van Loan released the text of a motion that would keep the Commons fires burning until midnight every night but Friday until the summer recess, which is currently scheduled to begin on June 21.

There's nothing particularly unusual about the move to extend the sitting hours -- it's traditional, in fact, although during minority days, Van Loan's efforts to do so were regularly rebuffed by the opposition, who would instead seize upon the ensuing debate to air their respective and collective grievances over his heavy-handed House management style before ceremoniously voting down his motion.

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