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No clear end in sight as House of Commons gridlock approaches 2-month mark | CBC
News Loaded
Politics
NO CLEAR END IN SIGHT AS HOUSE OF COMMONS GRIDLOCK APPROACHES 2-MONTH MARK
A debate that has jammed up the House of Commons for nearly two months now
doesn't appear likely to end any time soon, as neither the Liberals or
Conservatives are showing signs of backing down.
MPS HAVE BEEN DEBATING A PRIVILEGE MOTION SINCE LATE SEPTEMBER, PUTTING OTHER
HOUSE BUSINESS ON HOLD
Darren Major · CBC News · Posted: Nov 19, 2024 12:33 PM EST | Last Updated: 2
hours ago
A House of Commons debate over documents has resulted in weeks of political
gridlock. Government House leader Karina Gould, left, and Conservative MP and
House leader Andrew Scheer have each accused the other side of holding up
business in Parliament. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press, Spencer Colby/The
Canadian Press)
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A debate that has jammed up the House of Commons for nearly two months now
doesn't appear likely to end any time soon, as neither the Liberals or
Conservatives are showing signs of backing down.
The parties blame each other for tying Parliament up in a privilege debate that
began in late September. That debate stems from a House order that directed the
government to hand over unredacted documents related to a now-defunct foundation
responsible for doling out hundreds of millions of federal dollars for green
technology projects.
On Monday, government House leader Karina Gould accused the Conservatives of
"holding Parliament hostage."
* Analysis
Caught in an aggressive hunt for documents, Parliament is getting nowhere
fast
* RCMP says it has documents at the centre of a debate bogging down the Commons
* Who will end the debate? Political gridlock continues in the House of Commons
"Time is up for Conservatives to stop playing their silly, partisan, procedural
games and let us all get back to the work of this place," she said.
But Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer said Tuesday the Liberals are the
ones holding things up by refusing to hand over all the relevant documents.
Scheer pointed to a letter from the House law clerk — tabled in Parliament on
Monday — that indicated some of the documents have been redacted or withheld.
"This is clearly a decision that the … Liberals have made to continue to keep
Parliament paralyzed rather than hand over documents," Scheer told reporters on
Tuesday. Conservatives have vowed to keep the debate going until the remaining
documents are produced.
On Monday, Gould said the government has handed over almost 29,000 pages to the
law clerk "in a way that complies with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms." The
law clerk's letter indicates that the redactions purportedly were made to comply
with access to information laws.
WATCH | Gould says Liberals have released documents related to green technology
fund:
Gould says Liberals have released documents related to green technology fund
1 day ago
Duration 1:22
Government House leader Karina Gould says the government has provided nearly
29,000 pages of documents related to the Sustainable Development Technology
Canada (SDTC) matter.
Because the matter is considered a question of privilege, it takes precedence
over all other House business. As a result, the government has been unable to
move any legislation forward for weeks.
The debate also has prevented the Conservatives from moving motions on
designated opposition days — motions the party has used recently to
trigger non-confidence votes in an ongoing attempt to bring down the
government and force an election.
The Liberals tabled the supplementary estimates — an update on the government's
planned expenditures for the remainder of the fiscal year — on Monday. According
to House rules, those estimates need to be voted on by Dec. 10.
Treasury Board President Anita Anand said Tuesday that if the privilege debate
gets in the way of a vote on the estimates, some departments might lack funding.
"There is no way for the government to simply pull the rug out from under the
House of Commons required voting process and say that [those expenditures] are
in place," Anand told reporters on Parliament Hill.
'So it's extremely important for the House to function so that those voting
expenditures can be put into place."
In June, the auditor general released a report that found Sustainable
Development Technology Canada (SDTC) violated its conflict of interest policies
90 times, awarded $59 million to 10 projects that were not eligible and
frequently overstated the environmental benefits of its projects.
* Government business on pause as Conservatives demand documents on defunct
green tech foundation
* NDP accuse Conservatives of being 'agents of chaos' as government business
grinds to a halt
* Ottawa abolishes green fund in response to scathing AG report
In the wake of that report, opposition MPs voted to have the government provide
all documents related to SDTC to the House law clerk for delivery to the RCMP,
which would investigate.
Some documents have been given to the RCMP. But the government redacted
information from those documents and withheld other documents entirely, citing
privacy laws, solicitor-client privilege and cabinet confidence to explain the
exclusions.
Speaker Greg Fergus ruled in September that the government "clearly did not
fully comply" with the House order. But he also said it was "unprecedented" for
the House to require the government to produce documents for the purpose of
providing them to a third party — the RCMP, in this case.
RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme waits to appear before the House of Commons access
to information, privacy and ethics committee on Tuesday, February 27, 2024 in
Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
At the time, Fergus suggested that the matter be further studied by the House
procedures committee. But because the debate has continued for weeks, a vote to
send the matter to committee hasn't been held.
RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme has cautioned that police might not be able to use
documents received through a House order in a criminal investigation.
"Before taking any investigative steps to access documents that may give rise to
a reasonable expectation of privacy, the RCMP must comply with applicable legal
standards to preserve the validity of any potential criminal investigation or
prosecution," Duheme wrote to the law clerk in July.
"There is significant risk that the [House order] could be interpreted as a
circumvention of normal investigative processes and Charter protections."
SEPARATE PRIVILEGE MOTION WAITING IN THE WINGS
Even if the debate over the documents ends soon, the House won't be returning to
business as usual right away.
MPs still have to debate and settle a separate privilege motion related to
Employment Minister Randy Boissonault's former business partner, Stephen
Anderson.
Anderson is at the centre of an House ethics committee probe that was launched
after several texts were released as part of legal proceedings. Those texts show
Anderson referring to a person named "Randy" in business conversations with
associates, prompting questions about whether Anderson was still consulting
Boissonnault on business matters while the latter was in cabinet.
Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages Minister Randy
Boissonnault speaks during a news conference on Tuesday, May 21, 2024 in Ottawa.
(Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
In his own testimony at committee, Boissonnault has denied having any
involvement in the business since he was re-elected in 2021.
The Conservatives have accused Anderson of failing to answer questions when he
appeared before the ethics committee and of not providing documents related to
the matter.
Conservative MP Michael Barrett moved a motion in October calling on the House
to find Anderson in contempt of Parliament. Because it is also a privilege
motion, the government won't be able to move forward with any legislation until
that debate is concluded.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Darren Major
CBC Journalist
Darren Major is a senior writer for CBC's Parliamentary Bureau. He can be
reached via email at darren.major@cbc.ca.
With files from The Canadian Press
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices|About CBC News
Corrections and clarifications|Submit a news tip|Report error
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