Liberals push for long-term House rule changes they say are needed to combat Conservative obstruction
The federal Liberals are trying once again to amend the House of Commons sitting schedule to allow for more late-night debates, a move they say is a result of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's party trying to turn the chamber into a "place of dysfunction."
On Monday, Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon kicked off a debate in the House on a new government programming motion, that if passed would change the rules around the timing of debates and votes, through until the end of the current session of Parliament.
Among what the motion proposes is to allow ministers, in co-operation with at least one opposition House leader, to request that the House not adjourn until midnight to keep debating government legislation.
would also give the government power to "without notice" immediately adjourn the House of Commons in the few days leading up to a scheduled winter or summer break, and proposes a new provision to allow for an overnight health break between midnight and 9 a.m. to avoid the "chaotic spectacle" of marathon voting sessions.
"No one, whether it is a member of Parliament, or an employee working in the House of Commons, should be forced to work throughout the night simply because the leader of the Opposition wants to bully others into participating in his political game," MacKinnon said, speaking to his proposal in the Commons.
"He wants to turn this House into a place of dysfunction... We have a different view," MacKinnon went on, before the Speaker paused proceedings to address the heckling he was receiving from across the aisle.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Speaking with reporters after presenting the motion, MacKinnon said the Conservatives are using tactics to prevent bills, even those they support, from coming to a vote, and now they'll be forced to show how strongly they feel about certain bills, by potentially forcing MPs to stay up until midnight debating them.
"Their objections to bills are generally not principled. They're only about obstruction, they are only about stopping progress from being made for Canadians," MacKinnon said. "It must be a very depressing existence for a Conservative member of Parliament to serve only to feed the temper tantrums of their leader."
The Liberals accusing the Official Opposition of obstruction is nothing new, and as they have over the years, the Conservatives are denying responsibility for a stalled legislative agenda while indicating a resolve to continue with their parliamentary approach.
Sounding alarm bells that the motion, if passed as drafted, would afford the Liberals major new House powers without first seeking what once was tradition -- all-party consensus -- Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer said his party opposes this motion.
"They can't come to this place and start talking about the rights of members of Parliament, the ability for opposition parties to hold the government to account, if they're going outside the normal process to make major changes in the House," Scheer said. "That being said, Mr. Speaker, we're going to continue to oppose their agenda, because it's failed."
While it remains to be seen when this motion will come to a vote, it appears the New Democrats are ready to back it, with NDP House Leader Peter Julian saying the proposal "makes good sense, makes us work harder, and also smarter."
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.
Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.
Advocates have identified the woman who died this week after being shot by police in Surrey, B.C., as a South American refugee who was raising a young daughter.
Three men were injured after trying to subdue a man armed with a knife during afternoon prayers at a Montreal-area mosque Friday afternoon.
Kamala Harris tells Oprah any intruder to her home is 'getting shot'
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris on Thursday issued a warning to any potential home intruder: 'If somebody breaks in my house, they're getting shot.'
A 15-year-old boy who was the subject of an emergency alert in New Brunswick has been arrested.
On the trail of the mystery woman whose company licensed exploding pagers
What Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, 49, the Italian-Hungarian CEO and owner of Hungary-based BAC Consulting, says she hasn't done is make the exploding pagers that killed 12 people and wounded more than 2,000 in Lebanon this week.
The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.
Provincial police investigating the death of a cat that was allegedly set on fire in Orillia earlier this week released surveillance video of a person of interest in the case.
Local Spotlight
Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.
An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.
A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.