Liberals’ opposition day put on hold
The Conservative government sidestepped a motion on MP rights to avoid giving Justin Trudeau a victory.
Justin Trudeau is riding to the rescue of Conservative backbenchers who feel they’re being muzzled by stifling party discipline imposed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
The new Liberal leader intends to introduce a motion that would strip party whips of their power to decide which MPs are allowed to make members’ statements in the House of Commons.
Trudeau’s motion will put Harper’s legendary iron control over his caucus to the test, providing an outlet for restless Tory backbenchers to defy their leader.
Indeed, Harper may be trying to buy himself some time to strike a truce with his backbench rebels before letting Trudeau’s motion come to a vote.
The motion was to have been debated and put to a vote on Monday, a Liberal opposition day. But an hour after Trudeau gave notice Friday of his motion, Government House leader Peter Van Loan announced a sudden change in next week’s Commons agenda, bumping the Liberal day to Wednesday.
The Tory caucus meets Wednesday morning and Van Loan’s move gives Harper another chance to try to quell the uprising before the debate.
The Commons will now consider an anti-terrorism bill on Monday, which Van Loan indicated has taken on urgency in the wake of the Boston bombing.
Liberals aren’t buying the rationale.
“I am skeptical,” said Liberal MP Marc Garneau, noting that the antiterrorism bill has been wending its way through the Commons for more than a year.
The bombings in Boston occurred on Monday yet Garneau said Van Loan made no mention of the antiterrorism bill when he made his weekly statement Thursday about next week’s House business. It took on “monumental proportions” only after the Liberals gave notice of Trudeau’s motion, he said.
Harper spokesman Andrew MacDougall chimed in on Twitter:
“Grits bleating because oppo day moved back 2 days so House can pass the ‘ Combating Terrorism Act’. Seriously.”
The motion is undoubtedly problematic for the prime minister, who is facing a rebellion by backbenchers fed up with their inability to speak their minds during the daily 15 minutes allotted for members’ statements.
The revolt was triggered last month when British Columbia MP Mark Warawa was removed from the Tory roster because he intended to talk about abortion — an explosive subject that divides Conservatives and which Harper is determined to keep a lid on.
Warawa has asked Speaker Andrew Scheer to rule that his privileges as an MP were breached; at least eight other Conservative MPs have openly backed his complaint.
Some aggrieved Conservative backbenchers have complained about the lack of support they’ve received from opposition parties so far.
But Trudeau, who made democratic reform the centrepiece of his successful leadership bid, intends to remedy that with his motion.
It calls on MPs to support changing the rules governing members’ statements.
Instead of the current practice of having party whips supply the Speaker with a list of MPs approved to make statements on any given day, the motion would require the Speaker to recognize MPs in alphabetical order, by party. MPs would be able to trade their speaking orders, providing some flexibility for those who might be out of town when their turn comes up or who want to urgently address an issue in their ridings.
Independent MPs would be considered as a group, in alphabetical order.
A majority vote of MPs is all that is required to change the rules of procedure for the Commons, so Trudeau’s motion could have real effect if it is passed, pre-empting Scheer’s ruling on Warawa’s complaint.
In a statement Friday, Trudeau said his motion is aimed at ensuring Parliament is more representative of the views and priorities of Canadians.
“Members of Parliament from all parties should be community leaders, free to share the priorities and express the views of those they represent,” Trudeau said.
“Canadians must have confidence that the candidates they elect will represent their views in Ottawa, not Ottawa’s views to them.”
The issue erupted when an allparty committee ruled last month that Warawa’s private members’ motion — calling on the Commons to condemn the practice of sex-selective abortion — was non-votable, effectively killing it.