One afternoon earlier this month, Charlie Angus stood in the House of Commons and lamented.
“Mr. Speaker, as I always say, it is a great honor to serve in this House of Representatives, elected by the people of Timmins and James Bay,” the NDP member said. “But I have to say that every time I’m asked to stand up, I feel less and less proud because I want to encourage young Canadians who watch this gruesome gong show every day to believe in our democracy. Because I don’t know how to tell you.”
angus Those who are not seeking re-electionhas become a habit these days. Compare Congress minutes to Absurd American game shows of the 1970s and 1980s.
It’s something of a tradition in Canada to complain about the current state of the House of Commons. But it may be hard to find anyone who disagrees with Angus right now. The house isdysfunction” may be the only thing that all parties agree on, even if they disagree about who is responsible.
It is now too late to get things back on track for 2024. But will Congress be more functional in 2025?
Why is the House deadlocked?
Mr Angus was speaking days after Conservative and New Democrat members reached an agreement. accusation of drunkenness and blackmail In the house. However, the main cause of this fall’s dysfunction is Conservative filibusterthe House of Representatives has now been paralyzed for two and a half months.
Conservatives insist their actions are just and based on high principles. Parliament has ordered the government to produce documents relating to the troubled Green Technology Fund. The government has so far refused full compliance. The Conservatives argue that they are obstructing the government’s legislative policy in the spirit of parliamentary accountability.
“The right to order the production of documents is fundamental to the proper functioning of Parliament,” said Conservative MP Michael Chong. said In a lecture last month.
But the argument in favor of the filibuster is complicated by two facts. First, the Conservatives actually have a filibuster. own The motion proposed sending the dispute to a House committee for further consideration.
Second, the order passed by Parliament calls for documents to be turned over to the RCMP rather than MPs, which is potentially problematic and even the National Police seems to find it uncomfortable. .
Stephen Chaplin, a former lawyer for the House of Commons law clerk, said: written It argued that the order was an “abuse” of Congressional power that had “no constitutional basis.” Rob Walsh, former law clerk, said It argued that submitting the documents to the RCMP was an “abuse of the power of the House of Commons.”
Obstruction is a time-honored and legitimate tool for opposition parties in parliamentary systems, but the Conservative Party’s efforts are noteworthy given how long it has lasted and how much it has disrupted. Other than a brief reprieve to pass the government’s temporary GST suspension, the House of Commons has not been able to consider any government legislation since late September. All private members’ bills were also blocked from being debated.
The Trudeau government’s failure to end the filibuster may be due to several factors.
The Liberal Party does not have a majority in the House of Commons and would need support from other parties to trigger a prorogation. of The New Democratic Party has withdrawn from the Trust and Supply Agreement with the Liberal Party. In early September, it appeared that they were in no hurry to provide support to the government. (A limited agreement with the Bloc Quebecois briefly appeared possible in October, but the government and the bloc No agreement could be reached on increasing the elderly allowance.. )
In a pinch, the ruling party can call elections (or at least threaten to call them) to break the deadlock. But the Liberal Party clearly agrees. I’m not in a position to choose that route at this point..
Liberals may console themselves with the fact that the Conservative filibuster does not prevent them from governing most of the time. Thanks to supply and confidence agreements, much of their existing agenda was in place before Tory obstruction began. And the House somehow approved it. Latest fiscal spending round This ensures that the government never runs out of funds.
Can someone get this Congress back on track?
But the obstruction has not been completely painless for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government. of Online Compromises the Lawwas first tabled in February but has not moved forward. I don’t have either natural liability lawwas tabled in June. of Indigenous Clean Water Actsubmitted last December, not being able to leave the house. Changes to capital gains taxwhich was announced in the spring budget, but has not been formally adopted into law.
If the government wants to advance its policies, it will also need to remove obstacles in the House of Commons. Amendments to election laws to make voting easier,or Nursing care safety law (Not yet submitted).
Time is becoming increasingly valuable for this government. If the next federal election is held in October, this House will 14 weeks left to sit.
As the election approaches, the fight for every turf on Parliament Hill will only get more intense, and perhaps even more ridiculous. Therefore, it is easy to imagine that the gong show will be renewed for 2025, perhaps leading to an early collapse of parliament.
The Conservatives are clearly looking forward to the election and similarly want to claim that all of Canada is “broken,” so a breakdown in parliamentary business would suit their objectives.
However, if the dysfunction continues for a long time, there is a risk that how much (or how low) people value the parliament will be seriously undermined. The fact that the current impasse has not attracted more widespread concern already reflects poorly on Parliament’s status as an important public institution.
As Mr Angus claimed earlier this month, this could be a particularly bad moment for Parliament to collapse.
“We are in a crisis of democracy around the world,” he said.
At some point, the Liberals and New Democrats may also have to decide whether to make more constructive use of the final weeks before a Conservative government takes office.
Responsibility in this respect lies primarily with the Liberal Party, both practically and politically. And the New Democratic Party still has strong incentives to differentiate itself from the unpopular government.
However, both parties still share some of the same goals. And even if the Conservatives win a majority next fall, it may be a while before either the Liberals or New Democrats have the power to advance these goals.
The confidence and supply agreement grew out of the “Freedom Convoy” protests that roiled downtown Ottawa in 2022. This agreement allowed the House to function and showed that the two progressive parties could get some things done.
If the House of Commons is to be anything other than a gong show in 2025, the Liberals and New Democrats may need to figure out together how to make things work again.
