ottawa –
NDP House of Commons Leader Peter Julian says despite how chaotic the first few weeks of the fall legislative session have been, there’s still work his party wants to accomplish in the House before the next election.
But if other parties make that work impossible, it could be factored into the NDP’s voting decisions, he said Friday.
In just three weeks, two Conservative no-confidence motions have failed to topple the Liberal government, but the opposition is promising more.
The New Democratic Party said it will decide how to vote on these motions on a case-by-case basis, based on what it believes is in the best interests of Canadians.
“I believe all MPs need to take action during this difficult time to ensure Canadians can benefit from support from the federal government,” Julien said in an interview.
“Our focus should be primarily on Canadians, and if it becomes clear that the Liberals and Conservatives are not focused on that, we will take that into account when making decisions.”
He said Mr Julien’s voters have told him they are not interested in running at this time, but the party will take decisions on a case-by-case basis.
He accused the Conservatives of being “disruptive stooges” in the Commons after the government’s legislative program came to a halt this week.
The House of Commons has become mired in debates over privileges that supersede most other topics.
This stems from an order from the House of Commons directing the government to produce and turn over unredacted documents related to the improper spending of government funds to the RCMP.
Speaker Greg Fergus ruled last Thursday that the government had “clearly failed to fully comply” with the order. The order pertains to a now-defunct foundation that was responsible for providing hundreds of millions of federal dollars to green technology projects.
In his judgment, Fergus said the issue was complex and should be referred to a committee for consideration.
Liberal Leader Karina Gould said the request was an abuse of parliamentary power and should not violate Canadians’ right to due process.
“This is a very worrying precedent that they’re setting,” she said in an interview Friday.
Conservative House of Commons leader Andrew Scheer said the situation was “self-inflicted” by the Liberals and would remain so until the government handed over the documents to police.
Meanwhile, the RCMP said it was investigating the foundation but would likely not be able to use the documents in a criminal case even if the House of Commons provided them.
Meanwhile, lawmakers have achieved little.
The government has postponed the date for a vote on changes to capital gains tax three times, each time being caught up in the debate over the document.
These tax changes are already in place, but if the House of Commons falls before the bill is passed, it will be much easier for future governments to reverse the changes.
Similarly, long-awaited legislation on clean drinking water for Indigenous peoples and citizenship for foreign-born Canadians is not moving forward.
If the opposition parties collude to vote down the government, any legislation that has not received royal approval will be invalidated by decree.
Gould said the Conservatives are “holding up important legislation for Canadians that will have a direct impact on their lives.”
Mr Scheer said on Thursday that the government appeared to want parliament “occupied” rather than comply with House orders for documents.
The NDP’s main focus this fall was to see the Pharmacare Bill pass and receive royal assent. The bill was a key part of the Supply and Confidence Agreement with the Liberals until the NDP ended the agreement last month.
The bill passed a Senate committee Thursday without amendments, clearing a major hurdle. A third reading vote will be held in the Senate next week.
But Julien said there are other things the NDP wants to accomplish, including consumer protections to prevent price gouging at grocery stores.
He said the New Democratic Party would proceed as it did during the pandemic to gain more public support, but the Liberals needed to show leadership.
“We’ll try to do the same thing in the fall to benefit Canadians. But that’s an open question,” he said.
Mr Gould said it was not unprecedented for a debate on privileges to drag on for a long time and that he believed the government was in a position to reopen the House of Commons soon.
“Sometimes I spend a week in the House, sometimes I spend a month in the House, sometimes I spend a day in the House,” she said.
“I think now it’s up to the other party to decide how long it will last and whether they want to take the job too.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 4, 2024.
