Despite early ‘spirit of co-operation’ on some bills, Liberal agenda still failing to launch in Parliament, say politicos

Parliamentary business is once again being slowed to a crawl by the slowness and divisiveness in parliamentary committees. With the Liberals and Conservatives accusing one another of obstructionism and bad faith, despite promises by the Conservatives to cooperate with the Liberals in Parliament. 

Former Liberal parliamentary secretary Joe Jordan says the current deadlock in parliamentary committees could lead to a similar situation seen in the previous Fall sitting where business was grounded to a halt mostly in committee. He points to the infighting seen in the House Finance Committee where the study of Bill C-15 scheduled 19 meetings to study the legislation and question ministers. With some sections of the bill being repeatedly studied and referred to other committees where it typically takes 5 weeks to return with recommendations. He concludes that unless the Liberals gain a majority either by floor crossings or by winning a snap election, it is unlikely this infighting in committee will stop. He explains that this will lead to “Carney’s agenda [sitting] at the starting gate.”

So far the Conservatives have cooperated with the Liberals on affordability, bail reform and some other select topics. Yet the NDP and Conservatives have accused the Liberals of governing like they have a majority and not accommodating their needs in parliamentary business. Don Davies explains that the Liberals have a “recurring problem” of a “refusal to accept that they’re in a minority government and that the obvious conclusion is that they need to reach out to other parties in order to get anything done.”

!ping Can