It’s the final (legislative) countdown

As the number of sitting days in the House of Commons hits single digits, some critical pieces of legislation still remain in the cue. There was a lot of political posturing last week from government house leader Pablo Rodruiguez, but to what end? The Liberals need to work fast, and work with the opposition, to clear the legislative deck. With everyone’s patience wearing thin, Rodruiguez is under pressure this week to get things done before a possible (even probable) late summer or fall election. 

What’s left on the docket?

According to Rodriguez, the priority bills for the Liberals are: C-6, C-12, C-30 and C-10. When looking at the remaining seven sitting days on the calendar, two are earmarked as opposition days. This leaves only five days to advance and pass legislation. That is not a lot of time – especially when MPs have election fever.

A quick summary

Bill C-30, the Budget Implementation Act, is the government’s undisputed top priority. It enacts several major Budget 2021 commitments. The bill is at the report stage in the House of Commons. After the report stage, the bill will receive a third reading vote and then go to the Senate. Various Senate committees have already undertaken pre-studies of the legislation, preparing for the bill to be fast-tracked upon arrival in the Senate and Royal Assent both houses rise for the summer.

Bill C-12 seeks to set up accountability mechanisms in Canada’s efforts to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050. The bill has NDP support, but Rodriguez suggested the Conservatives are looking to kill it. The Official Opposition has denied that charge, claiming they are only giving the bill due consideration. The Senate Standing Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources has done a pre-study of this legislation in order to expedite the Senate process. This legislation is an important tool for the Liberals’ climate narrative, which seeks to make the Conservatives look like climate change deniers and coalesce NDP and Green swing voters under the Liberal banner.

Bill C-6 aims to ban the practice of LGBTQ2S+ conversion therapy in Canada. The Liberals have been pressuring the Conservatives since the start of Pride Month to let this bill come to a final vote at third so it can move into the Senate. On Friday, the government gave notice of time allocation to limit further debate on this legislation. Like Bill C-12, this legislation is an important political wedge for the Liberals. There has been no pre-study in the Senate, which hurts its chances of becoming law before an election is triggered.

Bill C-10 is legislation designed to update the Broadcasting Act. The government claims the bill will support Canadian content creation and promotion, but it has been embroiled in controversy over concerns about user-generated content protections and regulating social media platforms. These concerns notwithstanding, the legislation seems to be scoring some big political points for the Liberals in Quebec. With support from the Bloc, the Liberals passed a time allocation motion on the committee stage of the bill, forcing the committee to complete its study of the bill last week. The legislation, which was heavily amended at committee stage, is now being compiled and reprinted by the House of Commons administration so it can be reported back to the House early this week. Curiously, the government did not arrange for a Senate pre-study of the bill. It will be a big challenge to get the legislation through the Senate in these final weeks, given the significant constitutional controversy it has generated.

What’s next?

According to the Liberals, the Conservatives are playing political games and deliberately frustrating the will of Canadians who, according to the government, support these bills. 

Conservative House Leader Gerard Deltell, on the other hand, says the Liberals are to blame for the “bottleneck”. They prorogued Parliament in August 2020, which forced several bills to be re-tabled. He also pointed to the hundreds of hours the Liberals spent filibustering at a number of House of Commons committees.

Which argument will Canadians believe? We likely won’t have to wait long to find out.

Despite the fact that everyone claims not to want an election, the current legislative obstruction or mismanagement (depending on your political point-of-view) will probably be cited as a reason to have one. 

The Liberals will say they need a majority to get things done and to focus on Canada’s economic recovery. The opposition parties will reply that Prime Minister Trudeau’s election call is driven by self-interest and that it’s time for a change. 

The political scripts are written. The battle lines are drawn. The only thing missing now is a writ drop.