It’s not easy to keep apart in cramped spaces of Parliament Hill,
Parliament’s West Block poses many challenges as MPs debate return
Parliament Hill right now is a bit of a ghost town. Except for perennial construction outdoors, where masked workers attempt to stay apart, inside is eerily quiet.
Close encounters with politicians, staffers or fellow journalists are weird, as the coronavirus turns us all into droplet dodgers.
West Block, where the House of Commons sits, was substantially renovated before it welcomed the MPs’ retreat from Center Block. That building closed in 2018 for its own decade-long renovation. The new West Block may be an architect’s idea of a nice refit.
But for roughly 1,000 parliamentary staff, interpreters, security personnel, politicians and journalists who normally work there when the Commons is in full session, it’s a nightmare of narrow, dullydecorated halls, bad lighting, cramped stairways, and small foyers that allow little space to mingle, talk privately, or even publicly. Caucus and committee rooms became smaller. The chamber, noisier. And space, tighter. Even before the COVID-19 lockdown, West Block was not user-friendly. Now it’s worse.
And unless there’s a breakthrough in negotiations underway between all political parties, Parliament may resume five-days-a-week, in-person sittings at West Block on Monday.
Getting into West Block already means entering and exiting through narrow doors and pathways, past security guards behind Plexiglas.
Where before it was merely awkward trying to pass someone in the impossibly narrow, yet hulking centre stairwell, now it’s downright too close for comfort. Only one person goes up or down at a time.
In the hallways, you pass someone at less than two meters apart. And elevators? Forget distancing.
The days of crowded scrums are over. At televised news conferences of public health officials or ministers, Commons staff who support the work of the Parliamentary Press Gallery wipe down mics and make masks available, and there is space to spread out because usually only a handful of reporters attend. Others struggle to get questions in via teleconference as they work from home.
There are hand sanitizers everywhere that squirt out a tiny bit of frothy soap. Until this week, few wore masks, including security guards or Trudeau’s personal RCMP bodyguards. On Wednesday, the prime minister arrived for this week’s Wednesday in-person Commons sitting wearing a mask, but doffed it after taking his seat. It was the day Dr. Theresa Tam recommended the public wear a non-medical mask as an additional layer of protection for others. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Minister for Women and Gender Equality Maryam Monsef arrived wearing masks. Of the roughly 34 MPs in the chamber when I dropped in, only one wore a mask, Conservative MP Garnett Genuis.
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, seen for the first time publicly wearing a mask Friday, says it’s time for Parliament to be declared an essential service, and to get back to regular business. He says up to 50 MPs and staff could easily and safely return to the Commons chamber.
For weeks, only about 35 members of Parliament have attended the Wednesday inperson sitting. Tuesdays and Thursdays, up to 300 of 338 MPs meet online in virtual sessions via Zoom under an extraordinary agreement among all parties struck in April that allows the Commons to sit as a special committee.
But business is restricted to examining the COVID-19 pandemic. About a third of Commons committees meet online on the same topic. The rest are on hiatus.
Scheer wants all committees up and running, with powers to compel evidence, and for MPs to debate all government business or private members’ bills, not just the pandemic. The Bloc Québécois and NDP are wary of a broader return of MPs in greater numbers, although both want a greater opportunity to challenge the government on its actions, and say so far, it’s not delivering on promised help. It’s all uncharted territory. This is the first time since Confederation in 1867 that the House of Commons has substantially altered its sittings and the way it does business in response to domestic or global events.
Even after the great fire of1916, Parliament just shifted down the road to the Victoria Memorial Museum, now the Canadian Museum of Nature, and sittings continued. The country was at war.
Trudeau says Canada is in the midst of a different kind of war and Parliament’s focus must remain on the pandemic.
The Liberals say they support allowing MPs to scrutinize the government’s pandemic response, via a hybrid-style Parliament, where limited numbers of MPs would be present, and others would attend virtually. Each remote speaker would be projected into the chamber on two large screens. It’s what the U.K. has done and Commons administration says the technology works.
However, the procedure and house affairs committee has already voiced fears that internet connections in rural and remote areas of the country are not always stable, and cybersecurity remains a worry.
Trudeau says the bigger worry is making sure remote MPs aren’t forced to travel to Ottawa to do their jobs.
“If we reopen with reduced numbers without virtual sittings, there will be many, many MPs from further parts of the country who will be unable or unwilling to come to Ottawa because of their family’s safety, and therefore, there will be parts of the country that won’t be reflected in our democratic institutions,” said Trudeau.
Scheer says nobody is insisting all 338 MPs return Monday, but he says up to 50 can safely be in the chamber, including 18 Conservatives, reflective of each party ’s elected representation. Commons administrative staff say that even with reduced numbers, the minimum support staff required on site is about 50.
Scheer doesn’t oppose a hybrid-style Parliament, but he said Friday nobody’s figured out how to conduct electronic or virtual voting and ensure security of those votes.
Negotiations among the parties are ongoing.
For now, it’s a good idea to keep your distance.