The Liberals are moving to take control of House of Commons committees now that they’ve secured a majority government, a move that will allow the governing party to control of the agendas of the 25 House of Commons committees.
The move would have allowed the Liberals, for example, to shut down attempts by the opposition to have the Commons ethics committee question Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne about a potential conflict-of-interest involving his spouse who is employed by the proponent of a government-backed high-speed rail project.
Liberal MPs on that committee engaged in a filibuster that stretched for 17 hours to prevent any such investigation before agreeing on Tuesday to invite Champagne to testify.
But having control of House of Commons committees will also give Liberals more control over everything from the kinds of topics committees choose to study to the witnesses they hear and, as a result, can be a powerful way of controlling the entire agenda of Parliament.
Government House leader Steven MacKinnon said in a social media post Tuesday that the Liberals will seek to change the standing orders, the rules that govern the Commons, to ensure they have the most votes on committees.
“Prime Minister Mark Carney and his government are determined to work constructively both in the House and in parliamentary committees,” he said.
MacKinnon will hold a press conference Wednesday morning to address the issue.
Conservatives sent supporters a fundraising email Tuesday evening arguing that Prime Minister Mark Carney is “going to use his majority powers to make life easier for his government.”
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The email asked for donations to help Conservatives “stop Carney from stacking the deck and continuing his cynical power grab.”
“He’s going to stack the deck on committees to shut down investigations into his scandals, conflicts, and waste, because he thinks no one can stop him,” said the email. “Since 1867, the founding of our country, committees have reflected the results of the ballot box, not a manufactured majority. But now, Carney is trying to reset the balance of power on committees to limit his opposition.”
The standing orders of the House of Commons, though, cannot be changed until the three winners of the April 13 byelections — all of them Liberals — formally take their seats in the House of Commons.
That has not yet happened yet though they are expected to be sworn in and take their seats in the days ahead.
The process of verifying byelection results and swearing in MPs is a process involving Elections Canada and the Speaker of the House of Commons and can typically take between one and three weeks after a byelection.
But once those byelection winners are sworn in, the Liberals will move from 171 seats in the House — one shy of a majority — to 174 seats. Majority governments traditionally hold a majority of seats on House committees.
Because the Liberals won a minority in last April’s election, MPs agreed to form committees with four Liberals, four Conservatives and one member from the Bloc Québécois.
MacKinnon is proposing that most committees will now have seven Liberals, four Conservatives and one Bloc member.
The standing orders are typically agreed upon unanimously, but MacKinnon’s proposed change will require a vote in the House. He said he intends to give notice of a motion in the coming days.
The byelection results, combined with five opposition MPs who crossed the floor to the Liberals in recent months, have pushed Carney’s party over a threshold it could not reach in last year’s election.
The Liberals won 169 seats last April, shy of the 172 needed for a bare-bones majority.
Canada hadn’t had a majority government since 2019, when former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals were reduced to a minority in an election.
– with files from The Canadian Press
Isn’t it time for you people to stop your crying We have elected a majority government and all the crying and mis- information you keep spewing will not change it. Do you all need a nap, maybe a snack, a timeout? You all sound overwrought!
David Akin must be Cummin a lump now that he has blown the libs to a majority.
Another nail in the coffin that is democracy in Canada.
so Canadians did NOT vote for a liberal majority, the Liberals bribed thier way to a majority and won 3 seats in what were liberal strong hold ridings anyway.
They stole a majority by subversion and deceit and now they are going to control all committees which means their corruption and scandals will not be able to be seen or discussed. Totalitarianism working in our democracy is still totalitarianism and must be stopped. Doing their dirty deeds in the dark is not what democracy is about. Although it IS what dirty and undemocratic governments do and use to deceive and control the population.
This is what happens when a corrupt PM and government buys a majority to do whatever they want. Carney and this Liberal government are to scared to face the Canadian voters in a general election so they buy their way to a majority government paying MPs to betray the Canadians that voted for them.
Total Liberal dictatorship led by a ultra wealth puppet
Watch the corruption kick into high gear with the Liberlas, just like in 2015 -2019.
In the Field there is a Brook,
quietly controlled by a Crook
Who is quite Sinister ,
while he acts as Prime Minister.
He prefers to trade everything,
with the Leaders in Beijing
While Canadians beg with a cup,
He now shouts “Hands Up”
I really admire Canada’s basic dictatorship