The gag adopted in the Commons
to speed up the study in committee
(Ottawa) Bill C-10, which reforms the Broadcasting Act, will be gagged after weeks of obstruction in committee.
The Liberals and Bloc members voted in favor of a time allocation motion on Monday that will force the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage to complete the study of some 30 amendments to the bill in less than five hours. The Conservatives, New Democrats and Greens voted against this very rare form of gag, which has not been used since the Chrétien years.
The motion was carried with 181 votes to 147.
"How is it that we have used this technique only three times in the entire history of the country?" Even Stephen Harper's conservatives have never dared to gag parliamentarians in this way, ”said New Democrat deputy leader Alexandre Boulerice,
during deliberations to this effect before the vote.
“We want to muzzle the speaking time of parliamentarians. However, opposition parties who agree with that, it boggles the mind, ”the Conservative parliamentary leader, Gérard Deltell, was surprised, pointing the finger at the Bloc.
The parliamentary leader of the Bloc Québécois, Alain Therrien, replied that his party could not let the Conservatives block this bill awaited by the cultural community in Quebec and across the country.
“The allocation of time to accelerate the work, […] it must remain extremely rare. But in the case of Bill C-10, we can say that we had to proceed like that. […] Millions of dollars are lost every week we have to discuss this. The cultural community demands it, Quebecers demand it; the bill must be adopted before the end of the session, ”he said.
The Minister of Canadian Heritage, Steven Guilbeault, said he was convinced that in five hours, the members of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage would have ample time to debate C-10.
The fact remains that the bill will have to be voted on in the Commons, before being sent to the Senate. In view of the short deadlines, it is unlikely, if not impossible, that it will be adopted before the adjournment of parliamentary work for the summer period, at the end of June. And if an election campaign were to take place in late summer or this fall, C-10 would die on the soap opera.
Reprimands from the president
The government announced its intention to impose the gag order to speed up consideration of this bill last week. However, the Conservatives created so much heckling during Friday's sitting that the Liberals were forced to postpone the vote until Monday.
The hybrid nature of the House meeting allowed Tories to scream, in very audible voices, from behind their screens, questioning the authority of Liberal MP Alexandra Mendès, who chaired the debates. And they have multiplied calls for order and feigned technical problems in order to delay the pre-established agenda.
On Monday, the Speaker of the House of Commons, Anthony Rota, set the record straight in a speech of about twenty minutes.
Mr. Rota reiterated that the authority of the presidency is final and, citing a rule book, that it is “unacceptable that the integrity and impartiality of a presiding officer be questioned” . In addition, "Members of Parliament do not have the absolute right to invoke the rules as many times as they wish for as long as they wish", he added.
“The tone of the debates has deteriorated. In the last week, on both sides of the House, we have openly questioned the rulings of the Presidency and derogatory remarks have been heard, ”he lamented.
“I recognize that there are times when the tension is heightened and the disagreements are intense. However, disregard for our rules and established practices is not only disrespectful to those entrusted with maintaining order and decorum,
it is also disrespectful of the House in its whole, ”he added.
MP Harder apologizes
An elected Conservative from Alberta, who had said that artists, especially those from Quebec, who want the implementation of C-10, are "overwhelmed" and cannot live on their art, apologized. Rachael Harder made the remarks in a recent interview with the Lethbridge Herald, a local newspaper in her constituency.
“Last week, I chose my words wrong when talking about a few artists from Quebec. Here in Canada, all artists enrich our country and the Conservatives will always advocate for a level playing field. I apologize for my comments, ”wrote Ms. Harder,
a unilingual Anglophone, in a tweet in French only.
This short statement was deemed insufficient by the Bloc Québécois and the Minister of Canadian Heritage,
who both returned to it during question period.
“A shy apology on Twitter when we have insulted thousands of artists in Quebec and across Canada, that's not enough,” criticized the Bloc Québécois Martin Champoux. "The comments of the member for Lethbridge are unacceptable, she must apologize in this House and the leader of the official opposition must also apologize," added Minister Guilbeault.
The Conservative Party declined to comment further on this subject, insisting instead on the fact that
the Bloc and the Liberals joined forces on Monday to impose a gag order.
The motion was carried with 181 votes to 147.
"How is it that we have used this technique only three times in the entire history of the country?" Even Stephen Harper's conservatives have never dared to gag parliamentarians in this way, ”said New Democrat deputy leader Alexandre Boulerice,
during deliberations to this effect before the vote.
“We want to muzzle the speaking time of parliamentarians. However, opposition parties who agree with that, it boggles the mind, ”the Conservative parliamentary leader, Gérard Deltell, was surprised, pointing the finger at the Bloc.
The parliamentary leader of the Bloc Québécois, Alain Therrien, replied that his party could not let the Conservatives block this bill awaited by the cultural community in Quebec and across the country.
“The allocation of time to accelerate the work, […] it must remain extremely rare. But in the case of Bill C-10, we can say that we had to proceed like that. […] Millions of dollars are lost every week we have to discuss this. The cultural community demands it, Quebecers demand it; the bill must be adopted before the end of the session, ”he said.
The Minister of Canadian Heritage, Steven Guilbeault, said he was convinced that in five hours, the members of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage would have ample time to debate C-10.
The fact remains that the bill will have to be voted on in the Commons, before being sent to the Senate. In view of the short deadlines, it is unlikely, if not impossible, that it will be adopted before the adjournment of parliamentary work for the summer period, at the end of June. And if an election campaign were to take place in late summer or this fall, C-10 would die on the soap opera.
Reprimands from the president
The government announced its intention to impose the gag order to speed up consideration of this bill last week. However, the Conservatives created so much heckling during Friday's sitting that the Liberals were forced to postpone the vote until Monday.
The hybrid nature of the House meeting allowed Tories to scream, in very audible voices, from behind their screens, questioning the authority of Liberal MP Alexandra Mendès, who chaired the debates. And they have multiplied calls for order and feigned technical problems in order to delay the pre-established agenda.
On Monday, the Speaker of the House of Commons, Anthony Rota, set the record straight in a speech of about twenty minutes.
Mr. Rota reiterated that the authority of the presidency is final and, citing a rule book, that it is “unacceptable that the integrity and impartiality of a presiding officer be questioned” . In addition, "Members of Parliament do not have the absolute right to invoke the rules as many times as they wish for as long as they wish", he added.
“The tone of the debates has deteriorated. In the last week, on both sides of the House, we have openly questioned the rulings of the Presidency and derogatory remarks have been heard, ”he lamented.
“I recognize that there are times when the tension is heightened and the disagreements are intense. However, disregard for our rules and established practices is not only disrespectful to those entrusted with maintaining order and decorum,
it is also disrespectful of the House in its whole, ”he added.
MP Harder apologizes
An elected Conservative from Alberta, who had said that artists, especially those from Quebec, who want the implementation of C-10, are "overwhelmed" and cannot live on their art, apologized. Rachael Harder made the remarks in a recent interview with the Lethbridge Herald, a local newspaper in her constituency.
“Last week, I chose my words wrong when talking about a few artists from Quebec. Here in Canada, all artists enrich our country and the Conservatives will always advocate for a level playing field. I apologize for my comments, ”wrote Ms. Harder,
a unilingual Anglophone, in a tweet in French only.
This short statement was deemed insufficient by the Bloc Québécois and the Minister of Canadian Heritage,
who both returned to it during question period.
“A shy apology on Twitter when we have insulted thousands of artists in Quebec and across Canada, that's not enough,” criticized the Bloc Québécois Martin Champoux. "The comments of the member for Lethbridge are unacceptable, she must apologize in this House and the leader of the official opposition must also apologize," added Minister Guilbeault.
The Conservative Party declined to comment further on this subject, insisting instead on the fact that
the Bloc and the Liberals joined forces on Monday to impose a gag order.
Catherine Lévesque
The Canadian Press
https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/politique/2021-06-07/projet-de-loi-c-10/le-baillon-adopte-aux-communes-pour-accelerer-l-etude-en-comite.php
The Canadian Press
https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/politique/2021-06-07/projet-de-loi-c-10/le-baillon-adopte-aux-communes-pour-accelerer-l-etude-en-comite.php