The government pushed its controversial anti-terror bill through the House of Commons Wednesday night, despite heavy criticism from opposition parties and even a Liberal MP.

After all votes were counted, 190 MPs voted for the bill that will give lawmakers sweeping new powers; 47 voted against it.

The passing of the bill means Bill C-36 will now move to the Senate and may become law before Christmas. But opposition MPs say the legislation is full of holes and needs more debate.

The Liberals sped the bill's passage through the House by using their House majority to cut off debate on the bill Tuesday. That drew criticism from many opposition MPs, who maintained they needed at least two more days to debate each of the proposed amendments in the bill.

But the federal government said debate has gone on long enough.

Telegdi opposes bill

One MP who did not vote in favour of the bill Wednesday was Ontario Liberal backbencher Andrew Telegdi. On Tuesday, he broke ranks with this party to say that he was opposed to curtailing debate on the bill.

He said that Bill C-36 reminded him of life in Hungary when he lived there two decades ago.

"Having lived under a communist dictatorship, I know what human rights and civil liberties mean," said Telegdi. "The more we react by curtailing human rights and civil liberties in light of Sept. 11, the more we are saying to the terrorists that you have managed to greatly disrupt our way of life."

And in spite of earlier objections, some Canadian Alliance and Conservative MPs voted in favour of the bill too. All NDP and Bloc MPs present for the vote opposed it.

Anger continues over stifled debate

On Wednesday, Canadian Alliance MP Vic Toews told the House that cutting off debate cost members of Parliament the ability to express the concerns of Canadians.

"If this bill was the right thing to do, why did this Prime Minister do the wrong thing by invoking closure?" Toews asked.

"We're fighting for the rights of Canadians, we're fighting to provide their security and we're succeeding in spite of the opposition," Deputy Prime Minister Herb Gray responded.

Under the terms of Bill C-36, anyone deemed to be a suspected terrorist in Canada can be detained for up to 72 hours without charge. The bill also gives the justice minister the power to sidestep the legal process and keep certain matters secret for up to 15 years.

The legislation will also create several new Criminal Code offenses and give courts the ability to impose life sentences against those who mastermind terrorist acts.

Last week, Justice Minister Anne McLellan bowed to pressure and agreed to a five-year sunset clause on the anti-terrorism measures unless Parliament specifically decided to extend them.

Justice ministers discuss anti-terror tab

Also on Wednesday, federal and provincial justice ministers met in Ottawa to discuss who is going to pick up the tab for the pricey anti-terrorism measures. Some provinces are worried they'll be on the hook for a large portion of the cost.

"The federal government never covers the whole cost of anything," said Alberta Justice Minister Dave Hancock.

"We do the administration of justice, we have the prosecution services, we pay for a lot of the policing already. What we're saying is, this is going to add to the costs and they need to be prepared to contribute."

Neither McLellan nor Solicitor General Lawrence MacAulay will say how much the increased security will cost, or how much Ottawa will contribute.

However, MacAulay said it's up to all levels of government to fund security.

"The figures for what this will cost, nobody has them yet for sure," he told reporters. "This is a cooperative effort obviously, from municipal, provincial and federal authorities."

Some estimates indicate Ottawa will earmark at least $3 billion for security measures during the next five years.