‘THE LAST YEAR OF A MANDATE’
It’s crunch time in the House of Commons: MPs may be putting in longer hours over the next few weeks to debate and pass legislation, as they eye the 2015 election, writes the Citizen’s Mark Kennedy.
Canada’s MPs begin four weeks of political jousting Monday before the House of Commons takes its summer recess. In the fall, the one-year countdown to the 2015 election campaign will officially begin.
It seems the governing Conservatives are in a hurry to get there.
Government House leader Peter Van Loan has proposed that for the remainder of the spring session, MPs extend House of Commons sitting hours into the evenings so they can debate and pass legislation. “This is a government that is visibly in the last year of a mandate,” said NDP House Leader Peter Julian.
Here’s what to watch for in the next month:
THE FAIR ELECTIONS ACT
The contentious legislation to overhaul Canada’s election law drew wide criticism and the government made amendments, but not enough to satisfy the opposition. The bill was passed by the majority Conservatives and is in the Senate, which expects to pass it in June.
THE BUDGET BILL
The Tories want their omnibus budget bill passed soon, but the opposition and others - including the interim privacy commissioner - are concerned about changes to the Income Tax Act that could violate taxpayers’ privacy.
SUPREME COURT OF CANADA
Prime Minister Stephen Harper was expected to announce his next choice for a Supreme Court justice. His previous pick, Federal Court judge Marc Nadon, was set aside as unconstitutional in March by the court itself. Furthermore, Harper will soon have to make a second appointment: On Friday, the court announced that Justice Louis LeBel will complete his tenure on Nov. 30. Media reports Friday sug- gested the names of Harper’s other potential Quebec candidates.
CYBERBULLYING
A proposed bill being examined by MPs gives additional powers to police. Charges can be laid against anyone who posts “intimate images” of another person without their consent. Ontario’s privacy commissioner is worried about the bill’s “overreaching surveillance powers.”
CITIZENSHIP
A federal bill proposes that citizenship applicants would have to live here longer, more people would have to demonstrate proficiency in English or French, and citizenship of dual citizens involved in an “armed conflict” in Canada or convicted of terrorism, treason or spying abroad could be revoked. The bill is on the list of priorities the government wants examined in the next month.
PROSTITUTION LEGISLATION
The top court struck down Canada’s prostitution laws last December and gave Parliament a year to pass a new law. Justice Minister Peter MacKay is expected to introduce a bill soon, possibly before the House rises in June. He might propose the “Nordic model": johns and pimps face would criminal prosecution, but not prostitutes.
TEMPORARY FOREIGN WORKERS PROGRAM
Employment Minister Jason Kenney is expected to impose strict new rules on the beleaguered program. Businesses say they need foreigners to fill positions, but Canadian workers say they’re losing their jobs to cheap foreign labour.
ABORIGINALS
Government relations with First Nations are in chaos, after Shawn Atleo quit as national chief of the Assembly of First Nations because of internal dissent over the government’s bill to reform aboriginal education. That bill is now on ice. On Tuesday, the chiefs meet in Ottawa to map out a strategy.
ABORTION
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau struck a nerve by declaring that his party’s candidates in 2015 will have to vote pro-choice in the Commons. (Three current anti-abortion MPs will be allowed to vote as they please if they return in the next Parliament.) The NDP is keeping in reserve a possible motion that could force an embarrassing vote on abortion for the Liberals.
THE NORTHERN GATEWAY
Cabinet has until June 18 to approve a National Energy Board decision last December giving the conditional green light to Enbridge’s proposed pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia. If it says yes, there will be outrage in B.C. and from aboriginals who say their consent is required.
NDP SATELLITE OFFICES
NDP leader Tom Mulcair was recently grilled by Tory and Liberal MPs over whether his party had misled Parliament by using House of Commons employees in its “satellite” office in Montreal. Mulcair insisted his party had always been honest to Commons officials. The Tories, smelling blood, may hold more public hearings.
DEMOCRACY IN THE COMMONS
On Tuesday, Conservative MP Michael Chong is allotted an hour of parliamentary debate on his Reform Act, which would set rules on how a party caucus can dump its leader. The bill would also strip party leaders of their power to vet candidates. MPs will vote on the bill in September.
THE ONTARIO ELECTION
Federal MPs, including some cabinet ministers, have helped out their provincial cousins in the race, which ends June 12. Which party wins Ontario may have an impact on the federal election in 2015.
BY ELECTIONS
On June 30, about 10 days after MPs are expected to go home, voters go to the polls in four ridings: two in Alberta and two in Ontario. The Tories are expected to keep their seats in Alberta. The Liberals should keep their Scarborough-Agincourt seat, which had been held by veteran Jim Karygiannis. The real race is in Toronto’s Trinity-Spadina, once held by the NDP’s Olivia Chow. Now, the contest is between the Liberals’ Adam Vaughan and the NDP’s Joe Cressy.