Justin Trudeau’s Liberals want to extend for a year the provisions allowing a hybrid operation of the House of Commons and will be able to count on the support of the New Democrats, despite the strong opposition of the Conservatives.
Government House Leader Mark Holland said Monday he would introduce a motion on the desired extension. He said he had made a commitment to his counterparts in the opposition parties to ensure that government officials would be present in person during question period.
The pandemic continues. Last week, just in our party, there were five MPs who had the COVID-19 virushe said in a press briefing, not failing to mention that the Prime Minister, being part of the lot, participated in parliamentary work virtually.
Mr. Holland added, in the same breath, to have made the promise that any answer to an elected official given by the government during the question period would be it in person. He clarified that exceptions would be made, if, for example, a worrying new variant of COVID-19 leads to a deterioration of the health situation.
I was in opposition for a long time. I fully understand that accountability is essentialhe argued.
Less accountability, say the Conservatives
However, the Liberal proposal does not achieve this objective in the eyes of the Conservatives.
When the Liberals talk about a hybrid Parliament, what they are really talking about is putting in place a Parliament that offers less accountabilitylaunched their parliamentary leader, John Brassard.
According to him, the electronic application which allows elected officials to vote remotely is faulty, and the Commons should operate 100% face-to-face like other legislatures as well as, more generally, many workplaces.
Be that as it may, the NDP House leader, Peter Julian, has indicated that his political party supports the Liberals in their approach.
He argued that the fact that MPs who contract COVID-19 can participate in debates and vote remotely ensures that the representation of constituents in their constituencies is maintained.
” I do not understand how the Conservatives can say that we would be more accountable [avec] many MPs who could not participate at all, either because they are sick or have urgent business in their riding. “
It’s not not excludedsays the Bloc Québécois
The Bloc Québécois has not yet indicated, for its part, whether it intends to support the Liberal proposal. House Leader Alain Therrien maintained that this was not not excluded.
” We want, as much as possible, to restrict the use of the virtual because it must not become a norm. “
Mr. Therrien feels that it would be more appropriate to wait until the fall to decide on the formula to adopt, since that would nearly three more months to collect [des] information.
The Leader of the Government explained that, during the one-year period, the idea advocated is to allow the members of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs time to analyze what is effective – or not – in the hybrid operating mode.
” Maybe it will take six months or eight months. I have no idea because the parliamentary committee did not have the opportunity to begin its work. “
Mr. Holland has signaled that he expects debate on his motion to take place on Wednesday.
The Canadian Press
Source: Radio-Canada
