Tempers flare over budget mega-bill
Mulcair, Tory House leader ‘nose to nose’ on Commons floor
OTTAWA – Conservatives used their superior numbers in the House of Commons on Wednesday to brush aside opposition objections and pass the government’s latest omnibus budget bill.
But not before NDP Leader Tom Mulcair and Government House leader Peter Van Loan almost got into a scrap on the floor of the House of Commons.
Their tempers flared over Bill C-45, the government’s second budget implementation legislation.
The NDP and Conservatives were soon accusing each other of threatening language and unparliamentary behaviour.
Government House leader Peter Van Loan was described by a Liberal MP as standing “nose to nose” and exchanging some heated words with Mulcair and opposition House leader Nathan Cullen. The confrontation followed an NDP request for the Speaker to repeat a vote in the Commons that would move the bill from report stage to third and final reading.
The NDP had argued the government’s first vote late Tuesday to move Bill C-45 to third and final reading was “illegitimate” by parliamentary rules because Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, who moved the motion, wasn’t there for his own vote and, therefore, was “out of order.”
The New Democrats asked the Speaker to have the Commons vote on the matter once more, a request opposed by the Conservatives and the Liberals, who said the outcome of the vote was clear whether or not the finance minister was present for it.
The Speaker ultimately ruled in favour of the government, saying another minister could move the motion.
Shortly after the NDP called for a new vote, a visibly upset Van Loan crossed the floor of the Commons, waving his finger at Cullen and using what the NDP said was “very abusive” language.
Deputy Liberal leader Ralph Goodale later tweeted there was “lots of talk and gestures.”
“Nose to nose,” he added, “but no apparent direct contact.”
The government insists Van Loan was simply trying to have a reasonable discussion with Cullen about the NDP’s objection to the vote, when, it says, Mulcair yelled at Van Loan, which spurred unparliamentary language.
NDP officials said Mulcair was simply standing up for Cullen.’
They say he told Van Loan: “Don’t threaten my House leader” and to get back to his own side of the House.
It was around that point that Defence Minister Peter MacKay, who sits next to Van Loan in the Commons, came over to calm his colleague and pull him back to the government side of the House.
Cooler heads ultimately prevailed, but the spat was a visible demonstration of the vitriol between the government and official Opposition over the budget bill.
The 414-page bill now goes to the Senate, where Conservatives are expected to limit opposition debate so the bill can be passed before Parliament breaks for the holidays on Dec. 14.
Bill C-45 includes publicsector pension reforms, a new electronic travel authorization system, judges’ pay raises and streamlined environmental protection for lakes and rivers.
The Conservative government has said the changes are essential for Canada’s economic well-being.
But the opposition has decried many of the measures as well as the fact the Conservatives have continued to include hundreds of changes into sweeping omnibus bills.
The opposition tried to prevent or stall adoption of the budget bill in recent weeks by proposing 1,600 amendments, all of which were defeated by the Conservatives in marathon voting sessions this week.