TORONTO - Question period was hijacked, two would-be Tory revolutionaries -- one clad in a kilt like his Scottish hero William Wallace -- camped out in the legislature, and the Speaker was put in the unenviable position of explaining just where the two men were relieving themselves.

But for all its bluster and bathroom humour, the political circus over tax harmonization that dominated the Ontario legislature for 44 hours ended Wednesday with a whimper, rather than the populist-fuelled bang of a legislative desk.

Progressive Conservatives Randy Hillier and Bill Murdoch, both banished for the rest of the session, exited the chamber rumpled and hoarse early Wednesday after spending their second night couch-surfing in an adjoining lounge.

Both apologized to Speaker Steve Peters for the misbehaviour that sparked their suspensions, but regained their bravado as they greeted the throngs of cameras and reporters that awaited them outside the doors.

Even as the notorious pair of party mavericks capitulated, with none of their demands met, they still claimed victory.

"Taxpayers in this province know that there's a party that stands up for them and that will fight for them and won't back down," said Hillier, who represents a rural eastern Ontario riding and serves as Tory labour critic.

"This Liberal government has no regard for people and taxpayers. They obviously would not have any public hearings anywhere in this province."

But for all the Opposition's efforts to paint their exiles as a pair of everyman heroes, it was the NDP who ended up leading the final anti-HST assault that forced the government's hand, with the Speaker's help.

Faced with his ruling that Thursday's scheduled hearing on the controversial tax change could start as soon as midnight, the governing Liberals quickly hammered out an all-party deal that would give the legislative committee six more hours to hear from the public.

The hearings will be held Thursday from 8 a.m. until 10:15 a.m. and again from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m., with another half-day session Monday from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m.

While the Tories broke the rules and turned down an extra day of hearings to prolong their ill-fated protest, the New Democrats found a way to use the system in their favour, said party leader Andrea Horwath.

The Tories' real goal was to distract voters from the fact that they once supported harmonization, she added.

"We acted in a practical, reasonable way, using the tools that are at our hands in the legislature to come up with a strategy that would put pressure on the government without creating any kind of disturbance," Horwath said.

From the outset, the Tories insisted they wouldn't give up until they got at least one day of public hearings outside Toronto. That didn't happen, even after they passed on the government's offer of a second day of hearings at Queen's Park.

There would have been more time for outraged taxpayers to vent their HST frustrations if the Tories hadn't turned down the deal, Horwath said.

And with two members of the shadow cabinet unable to return to the legislature for the remainder of the session, the 25-member Opposition also has two fewer votes, which may last until after the next election in 2011.

The rebellious Tory pair started their protest Monday afternoon, spending their nights -- with the Speaker's permission -- in an adjoining lobby that afforded such small comforts as couches and a bathroom.

Peters allowed Murdoch and Hillier to sleep in the adjoining lobby to avoid a repeat of what happened in 1995, when Liberal Alvin Curling staged an overnight sit-in to protest a Conservative government bill, without the benefit of a washroom.

Curling apparently had to relieve himself in a bottle that was concealed beneath a blanket.

Undaunted by the potential indignities, Hillier and Murdoch led a deafening, desk-pounding protest in the legislature in an all-out effort to derail tax harmonization. But it did little to delay the HST bill.

Peters took the unusual step of scuttling question period Tuesday over the ear-splitting din of the Tories, who led their caucus colleagues in an unrelenting campaign to drown out debate by shouting and slamming the lids of their wooden desks.

But enthusiasm dimmed as the hours dragged on, and there were signs of growing unease with the protest in the party ranks.

Opposition house leader and former solicitor-general Bob Runciman even acknowledged Tuesday that flouting the rules was bothering his "gut."

The decision to stand down appears to have come just a few hours after Runciman insisted the Tory caucus was firmly behind the protesting pair.

Peters, who suspended the two for misbehaving in the legislature, said he was approached Tuesday afternoon by the veteran Conservative.

"Mr. Runciman assured me that the members would be leaving and I thank the honourable member for following through on that commitment," he said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak admitted the protest was approved by the Conservative caucus to try to force the Liberals into allowing public hearings across the province on the new tax.

"Sometimes in politics you have to fight the good fight," he said. "Sometimes in politics, an issue rises to the fore that is so wrong, they need to take extraordinary measures to try to set it right."

Premier Dalton McGuinty, who refused to intervene in the protest, said the government has already had a "good and extended conversation" on the HST, which was announced in the budget last March.

"I think that our responsibility here in government is to keep our eye on the ball," he said.