The controversy eventually contributed to the defeat of Louis St. Laurent at the polls in 1957, ending 22 years of Liberal rule, and bringing in a government under Progressive Conservative Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.
The opposition parties were aware that parliamentary approval of the plan had to be obtained by June 6, 1956, to get necessary financing in time for pipeline construction to start by July 1, as the Liberal government had promised.
The opposition believed that if the Liberals missed this deadline, the plan might fall apart under its own weight, and a new all-Canadian consortium or a Crown corporation might be put together.
On the day before the deadline, Liberal Speaker of the House of Commons René Beaudoin allowed the opposition to debate a procedural matter.
MPs ran into the centre aisle, and Major Coldwell, the CCF Leader, went on to the Speaker's dais, shaking his fist and berating Beaudoin.