Process stories outlining the upcoming legislative agenda were not so prominent this weekend. Yes, headlines were dominated by the convoy to Ottawa and left little room for other Hill coverage, but it could also point to another issue: does the Liberal government have clear legislative priorities for the upcoming session?
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did share some insight last week announcing that the throne speech debate would finish today and tomorrow and then moving onto Bill C-8 on Wednesday and Thursday. The glaring omission from Trudeau’s remarks, however, was that he did not mention any of the priorities that were supposedly part of the Liberal government’s 100-day plan.
To the Liberals’ credit, the government moved quickly on federal sick leave (Bill C-3) and banning conversion therapy (Bill C-4) prior to the holiday break. They can also point to their mandatory minimum reforms (Bill C-5) which are before the House at second reading. But what about some of the others?
The only item from the 100-day plan that seems to be imminent is the Liberals’ new broadcast bill. Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez appears to be taking a more constructive approach to this legislation compared to his predecessor, suggesting there could be a successful path forward after consulting with opposition parties and stakeholders. The Prime Minister’s Office is counting on Minister Rodriguez to use his experience as the Government House Leader to shepherd the bill through the House and avoid the rough ride C-10 endured in the last session. An inability to advance the broadcast modernization bill a second time would be seen as a major setback for the Heritage file.
With no other clear priorities on the horizon, Ministers have been busy looking to fill the void. Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne has said that new privacy legislation is a priority for him and that something could be introduced in the coming weeks – although that is a term used rather loosely by the government. Then again, perhaps this is one of those “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” moments as ISED officials are moving quickly to consult stakeholders on potential changes to the previous version of the bill.
The opposition parties will charge that the absence of a legislative agenda from the Prime Minister and his team means that they have no plan. Meanwhile, the government sees themselves as right on track on the priority decisions that happen outside of House or Senate approvals. How Canada will navigate rising tensions in Ukraine, Canada-China relations, pandemic restrictions, and continued vaccine adoption are all decisions likely to happen at the Cabinet table, rather than requiring consensus with opposition politicians.