Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

The wasted Parliament

by Aaron Wherry on Monday, June 14, 2010 8:55am - 21 Comments

Joan Bryden surveys the results of this session.

As of today, only two appropriation bills — important but routine pieces of legislation that ensure the government has money to operate — have received royal assent after winning approval from both the House of Commons and Senate.

A handful more — including an all-party brokered compromise on refugee reforms and a massive, omnibus budget implementation bill — might yet become law in a last-minute flurry of activity … The Commons is expected to break as early as Thursday but the Senate may sit up to an additional three weeks to deal with legislation the government deems most urgent.

Parliamentary expert Ned Franks says he can’t recall another legislative sitting that has accomplished so little. ”There might have been (but) I have no record of it,” says the political scientist.

Tags: house of commons, Ned Franks, Parliament, Senate

More by Aaron Wherry

jarrid

The immigration refugee reform legislation is very important legislation. The Liberals were originally in favour of the bill until the Liberal caucus revolted against Iggy -again. On the most important legislation of the session, the Liberals will be on the outside looking in – not being constructive one way or another. Even the Bloc realizes something needs to be done and is giving its input in the bill.

The Liberals are a good example of why having no principles or vision gets you nowhere. Or like Chanal Hebert says in her column today – why they just keeping going around in circles.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Jesse_Rosenberg Jesse_Rosenberg

A little inconsistent: the Liberal caucus rejects immigration reform because they don't like the "safe country" designations, and that's supposed to be because they had no principles? If they had no principles, wouldn't they just roll over and accept whatever their leader demands?

Martin

Kenney jumped the gun and announced he had a deal prior to the Liberal caucus discussion, presumably to pressure the Liberals, but they wouldn't bend on the principle that individuals deserve a fair hearing based on their individual characteristics, and shouldn't be stereotyped according to the country they come from. Kenney then went to the Bloc and NDP to get a deal, and they had almost exactly the same principles. The good news is that the other parties forced Kenney to make the very concession that the Liberal caucus wanted. Everyone is happy, but Kenney is sulking and pointedly refuses to acknowledge that Liberals had any hand in creating the consensus.

jarrid

The Parliamentary press gallery is again dismayed with the Harper Conservatives.

They have a new complaint: not enough legislation. The fact that the Liberal Party of Canada is content with what everyone agrees is current dysfunctional immigration laws, and wants to keep it that way, that's the minority government's problem?

Well Joan Bryden, there is a way to break that logjam: a Conservative majority government.

The Parlimentary press gallery has got to be one of the most fossilized press group in the country. Joan Bryden speaks, no one listens. It reminds me of the White House press corps: only in such a closed shop could you find disconnected people like the anti-semite Helen Thomas. Not only was she tolerated, she was revered!

Herb Waterman

"It reminds me of the White House press corps: only in such a closed shop could you find disconnected people like the anti-semite Helen Thomas. Not only was she tolerated, she was revered! " – jarrid

I've been reading the MacLean's online and I've seen you quote this on almost every story possible since it happened. I guess because one person in the united states of america whose probably gone senile said something anti-semitic, everyone in the media who does news coverage has thus been tainted. I mean, if one person says it everyone ever who does the same thing as them must think the same way.

Then I'm sure you'll defend yourself, saying that it was just an implication of largesse and stagnation and that the Canadian media isn't robustly anti-semitic… but will then find a way to imply the opposite.

I'm just trying to follow your logic on this one. You say that the majority of parliamentarians want to change immigration law, but when they try to form a stable government you screech bloody murder over it.

I doubt you'd make a decent politician; you shift position more often than the wind.
http://twitter.com/RamaraMan @RamaraMan

That's what Canada needs, a Harper majority! Just look to the abusive way the McGuinty majority in Ontario has rammed through the HST! A Harper with a parliamentary majority would be the worst dictatorship the world has ever seen!

http://intensedebate.com/people/craigola craigola

"A Harper with a parliamentary majority would be the worst dictatorship the world has ever seen!"

Please be careful. You wouldn't know it from reading Jarrid's posts, but words do have meaning.

Anon 001

Wasted Parliament? More like a wasted Prime Ministership, four years of one mistake after another.

Serves us right for replacing Paul Martin, who was dubbed Mr. Dithers by these same fickle geniuses of the parliamentary press gallery.

wilson

That's because the PPG lives by the motto
'we made you, we can break you'
Yes they can, and they do, because they can.

That's why Harper doesn't play tootsies with PPG,
there is NOTHING worse than being beholden to the media.

http://intensedebate.com/people/LynnTO LynnTO

I don't know about that, Wilson. I'm fairly certain Harper would rank "losing Seat" ahead of "beholden to media" on the stuff-to-avoid scale.

Lord Kitchener's Own

Lemon juice in a paper cut too. That's WAY worse.

http://intensedebate.com/people/madeyoulook madeyoulook

Madam Luciferia over at the Princesses of Pain club charges extra for that one, LKO. Turns out it can be quite popular.

danby

It just goes to prove that political gamesmanship (by all concerned) is no substitute for good government.
These feuding billhillies couldn't organize a bender with a still
http://intensedebate.com/people/Jesse_Rosenberg Jesse_Rosenberg

What's funny about this is that the LAST election was ostensibly called because "Parliament wasn't working", with no evidence… and now, when it's clearly not working at all…
wilson

After the coalition attempted a coup and failed,
there was no way either the Opps or the Harper Govt were going to play nice. To expect they would, is beyond naive, it's dillusional.
Both sides were enraged and that hasn't changed over time, in fact, it's gotten worse.

The PMO has too much power, but so do the Opps in committee.
Our system is set up for majority govts, and hampers any minority government from getting things done.

The Dippers and BLOC have a sit-in that grinds to a halt Canada's ability to pay the bills.
And that's what you mean by 'making Parliament work' Jack?
Work for who….?

The NDP is hands down the strongest of the two parties, and will be the dictator in any coalition/merger with the Liberals.

What the H happened to you guys?

http://intensedebate.com/people/LynnTO LynnTO

Our system is set up for majority govts, and hampers any minority government from getting things done.

So that whole pesky universal health care thing never happened, eh? Or that CPP?

http://intensedebate.com/profiles/dougrogers dougrogers

Oh, Lynn. You walked into that one. Those minority governments GAVE US SOCIALISM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Proof they don't work you see?

http://intensedebate.com/people/PolJunkie PolJunkie

Nevermind the wasted Parliament. How about the useless and powerless Parliament?

Our government has pretty much demonstrated that our Parliament is irrelevant and that all powers now reside within the PMO.

If Canada's Parliament cannot bring this government to account to the point where it has to issue subpeonas (which have also been ignored) to get answers, I think we are way past complaining about a wasted session, wouldn't you say?

http://intensedebate.com/people/sea_n_mountains sea_n_mountains

i think it depends on how resolute that parliament is willing to be in taking a stand that they will not be toyed with and how intelligent they are in determining how to suitably and appropriately sanction those that cross its path. if parliament collectively wants to be a shrinking violet we are doomed at least in the short term. if they want to stand up to this crap then the PMO could be taken aback pretty quickly I suspect.

Dee

Harper's incrementalism=nothing gets done.
hosertohoosier

Minority governments are not working. I see the following possible solutions:

1. Eliminate the vote subsidy and caps on election spending in order to eliminate what are effective subsidies to small parties and restore a 2.5 party system.
2. Unite the left in some fashion (either a merger or non-compete agreements, and definitely the death of the useless Green party)
3. Adopt some version of PR, in order to allow for stable coalitions.
4. Adopt some version of preferential voting (the Australian system), which will produce strong majority governments.

The next election will matter a great deal because an NDP-Liberal coalition would be likely to push for #3, while a Tory majority would be likely to push for #1.