EXTENSION PROPOSED FOR HYBRID PARLIAMENT
Liberals seek another year via Zoom, app
OTTAWA • The Liberals are looking to keep Parliament by Zoom call in place for another year, with a motion to extend the hybrid House of Commons to be introduced this week.
Liberal House leader Mark Holland announced the government's plan Monday morning, as the House of Commons enters its final week before breaking for the summer.
He said the hybrid Parliament, where MPS can appear in person or via videoconference, made Parliament work during the pandemic and it might be important to keep around. As an example, he said five MPS, including the prime minister, had COVID-19 in just the past week and otherwise would not have been able to participate in debates and votes.
“It's meant that we've had the flexibility to successfully allow members to continue to participate even when ill, and making sure that they didn't infect others,” he said. “We are still in a pandemic reality, and that we need the tools to ensure that members of Parliament can participate fully in the proceedings of Parliament.”
Holland said the government is proposing that a parliamentary committee study the issue over the next year and decide what worked or didn't work before establishing new rules.
“We think it's important that Parliament be the ones to do the work of looking at what was and what was not successful in utilizing these hybrid provisions,” he said.
The rules allow MPS to participate in the House either in person or via Zoom and to vote through a secure voting app. Parliamentary interpreters have complained about the set-up, saying it causes hearing strain and some have filed complaints over workplace injuries.
Holland pledged cabinet ministers would appear in person for question period.
He said a motion will be presented to the Commons likely on Wednesday with the details of his proposal. The House is set to rise for a summer recess on Thursday.
Conservative House leader John Brassard said the government is wasting time on this issue when bigger debates could be had in the final week.
“Rather than using the time to address the cost of living crisis that Canadians are facing, the Liberals are going to set up a Parliament in a way that suits them,” he said. “When the Liberals talk about a hybrid Parliament, what they're really talking about is a Parliament where they can be less accountable.”
The Liberals, with consent from other parties, set up the hybrid system during the height of the pandemic. The online voting app was added last year, allowing MPS to vote anywhere in Canada.
In addition to the issues with interpreters, Brassard said the voting app has crashed and committees have occasionally descended into chaos because of members participating virtually.
He said there is no reason MPS can't be in the chamber.
“Our Parliament, the seat of power, constitutionally is here in Ottawa. Everyone who gets elected to Parliament understands their role and responsibility and that's to be here to stand up to make themselves counted.”
Brassard said with COVID cases waning and mandates being lifted, having debates about hybrid Parliament make no sense now. He said if the situation changed, the Conservatives would be happy to take another look.
“If something happens in the fall, we can adjust but why we're making this determination in the last week of Parliament is beyond me.”
Holland also accused the Conservatives of being obstructionist in this last session. He said they used delay tactics, filibustered and otherwise impeded the work of the Commons. He said he didn't expect the Conservatives to vote for Liberal initiatives, but they should not have stood in the way of votes taking place.
Brassard said it's not his party's job to make the Liberals' life easy. He said the Liberals shut out the other opposition parties after making a confidence and supply deal with the NDP, and the Conservatives were not just going to sit back and watch.
“I know the prime minister would have liked an audience in the opposition, but what we were doing was making sure that he had an opposition.”
Prior to the pandemic, the House of Commons had no procedures for remote participation, allowing MPS to participate only if they were in the chamber. For key votes in the past, MPS had been brought from hospital beds to the Commons.
NDP MP Peter Julian said his party will support the Liberals' motion. He said MPS have missed votes because of illness, but also bad weather and cancelled flights.
“There was no other way to have those constituents' voices heard in Parliament. There was no other way to have their vote count in Parliament,” he said.
Julian said his party had limited virtual appearances to necessity in this session, but he said COVID-19 is not in the rear-view mirror and there is no reason to pack up the virtual tools.
“We've taken a very pragmatic approach to it. We use a hybrid Parliament when it's necessary, but for the most part NDP MPS have been here in Ottawa.”