OTTAWA – It’s 450 pages long and covers everything from M-P pensions, to the environment to border-crossing issues.
   
And, critics say the government’s massive budget bill covers too much ground.
 
The item getting the most attention is a pension plan change for MPs.
   
It will eventually see them putting nearly four times as much of their own money towards retirement than they do now.
   
M-P’s will also have to wait until 65 to retire to collect a full pension, rather than the current retirement age of 55.
   
The bill also extends a hiring credit for small business for one year and expands tax breaks for clean-energy investments.
   
Tax preferences for the mining and oil and gas sectors will also be phased out and there are measures to facilitate cross-border travel.
   
N-D-P finance critic Peggy Nash says the government has thrown too much into the budget bill.
   
But Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says the measures in the bill were clearly outlined in the budget he brought in last March and there are no surprises.