Fall sitting should focus on work after ‘more negativity than we’re used to’ in spring session, says PSG leader

A housing affordability crisis and unfinished legislation on child care and gun control are among the issues poised to take centre stage when Parliament returns in the fall, with some Senators and MPs saying they are hopeful the coming session won’t have as much finger-pointing and hostility as in the spring. “I just feel like the tone on Parliament Hill is very much ‘election mode’ and more negativity than we're used to,” said Progressive Senate Group Leader Jane Cordy (Nova Scotia). “I'm hoping that after a break in the summer, everything gets back to ‘let's deal with the legislation that we have before us.’” The House and Senate will return on Sept. 18 and Sept. 19, respectively, following a spring sitting that included a “very hectic” agenda, according to Cordy. Anticipation of a possible federal election has contributed to negative sentiments, and ‘whatever happens in the House is not always, but sometimes, reflected in the Senate,’ according to Cordy. PSG Leader Jane Cordy says there is a feeling of 'people want things rushed through' or 'want to hold things up,' on Parliament Hill. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade “It's hard to actually verbalize it. It's just a feeling that you get. People want things rushed through or they want to hold things up,” she said. “Everything has a little, you know, ‘why is this being done? Why isn't this being done? Why is a group holding this up? Or why are they trying to rush it through?’ All of those things seem to be happening.” A major cabinet shuffle on July 26 is expected to set the stage for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s (Papineau, Que.) bid to keep his party in power in the next election. Trudeau promoted seven MPs to the front bench, including Liberal MP Gary Anandasangaree (Scarborough–Rouge Park, Ont.), who assumed the role of minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, and rookie Liberal MP Rechie Valdez (Mississauga–Streetsville, Ont.) who joined the cabinet as minister of small business. Regarding the coming fall session, Cordy told The Hill Times she’s looking forward to debates on Bill C-35, the Canada Early Learning and Child Care Act. The bill, which is intended to codify the principles behind a long-term federal commitment to child care, completed third reading in the House on June 19, and now awaits second reading in the Senate. Prior to becoming a Senator, Cordy had worked for 30 years as an elementary school teacher in Nova Scotia, and she said she understands how Bill C-35 is “essential for families.” “We've gone beyond where one parent stays home. Many parents are now both in the workforce, and it's important that we have a very strong early learning and childcare system in our country,” said Cordy. “The early learning aspect of it gives kids a real jump start before they start school, and not just academics, but socialization the whole thing. I just think it's extremely, extremely important for all families.” Another major piece of legislation awaiting the Senate's return is Bill C-21, an act to amend certain acts and to make certain consequential amendments (firearms). The controversial gun control legislation is intended to tighten gun control laws by imposing a “freeze” on the sale, purchase or transfer of handguns in Canada. Maximum penalties for firearms-related offences would also be increased by the bill, from 10 to 14 years of imprisonment, such as for firearms smuggling and trafficking. The bill completed second reading in the Senate on June 21. Conservative Senator Don Plett (Manitoba), the leader of the Opposition in the Senate, told The Hill Times that the bill is “a horrible piece of legislation,” that will not do what the Liberal government intends. Conservative Senator Don Plett says 'we are going to do everything in our power to stall' Bill C-21, the Liberals' firearms legislation. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade “Bills that I personally would take the most serious right now, the one that we are probably going to mount the biggest amount of opposition to …would be Bill C-21,” said Plett. “We are going to do everything in our power to stall this because it is not good legislation.” Plett argued that the bill unfairly targets legal gun owners without sufficiently addressing guns that are smuggled into Canada. “This bill takes the guns out of the hands of duck hunters,” said Plett. “ are showing that they are wanting to take guns out of the hands of duck hunters and sports shooters, and yet they are saying they're supporting duck hunters and sport shooters.” The cabinet shuffle also resulted in Liberal MP Dominic LeBlanc (Beauséjour, N.B.) stepping into the role of minister of Public Safety, taking over the position from Liberal MP Marco Mendicino (Eglinton—Lawrence, Ont.) who was dropped from cabinet. Plett argued that a new public safety minister could also mean an opportunity to reevaluate Bill C-21. “I am hopeful that Dominic LeBlanc will be able to somehow look at this and realize what a flawed piece of legislation this is and rewrite this bill completely,” said Plett. “I certainly would say that if there is some hope, Dominic LeBlanc may be that hope, that he will see this as a very poor piece of legislation.” An open letter to Senators signed by a group of professors, researchers and firearms policy experts on June 12 argued that if Bill C-21 were to pass in its current form, it would not meaningfully address the root causes of gun violence, and would instead “severely harm hundreds of thousands of Canadian hunters, farmers, trappers, collectors, and sport shooters, many of them Indigenous.” “The significant costs of implementing and enforcing these measures will squander public funds and divert attention and resources from law-enforcement activities. The billions of dollars the government proposes to spend on firearm confiscation, combined with reduced tax revenues and destroyed businesses and industries, is likely to do far more harm than good when financial, social, economic, and opportunity costs are considered,” reads the letter, which was posted on Twitter by Dr. Noah Schwartz, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Fraser Valley in B.C. In contrast, PolySeSouvient, a coalition of gun control advocates, released an open letter to Senators on June 20 calling for swift passage of the bill without any amendments. “There is no more important responsibility of Senators than protecting the safety of Canadians, including from gun violence,” said Nathalie Provost, a survivor of Montreal's 1989 École Polytechnique mass-shooting and spokesperson for PolySeSouvient, in the press release. “While the legislation does not contain all the measures that were promised to Canadians, those that are included in Bill C-21 represent a significant step forward in making communities across Canada safer from gun violence.” NDP House Leader Peter Julian (New Westminster—Burnaby, B.C.) told The Hill Times that this fall his party is concerned with the federal government “actually delivering” on measures to help Canadians during a “critical time.” NDP House Leader Peter Julian says the supply-and-confidence agreement between the Liberals and NDP has allowed them to push through programs like dental care, and now the 'government needs to step up' and 'ensure that the programs are functioning.' The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade “With the confidence and supply , we've managed to push a lot of things through the House; the dental care program, the increased budgetary amounts for housing, a whole range of issues,” said Julian. “Now the government needs to step up and actually put in place the , and ensure that the programs are functioning, ensure that things are delivered to people that are really struggling.” According to Julian, issues such as housing affordability and a national pharmacare program to help manage the cost of prescription drugs are “top of mind” for the people he speaks with in his riding. An interim dental care benefit was introduced in December 2022 to help cover dental care expenses for eligible children under the age of 12. Applications for the second benefit period of the Canada Dental Benefit opened on July 1, 2023, providing eligible families with payments of up to $650 per eligible child under 12 years old for dental care services received between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024. “The critical point for this fall is making sure that the dental program is in place, that the pharmacare legislation is introduced that would create the foundation for pharmacare in this country that is desperately needed, ensuring that housing is actually funded and we're actually building these units rather than just talking about the big amounts that the government has set aside,” he said. Julian said that the NDP caucus is not interested in participating in the “pettiness that sometimes characterizes Question Period.” “We don't believe you need to take shots at your adversaries to actually make a difference. I think it's fair to say there's a lot of that finger pointing, I think, from Liberals and Conservatives. We believe our function in the House is as the worker bees, to actually get stuff done, and make sure that people are getting a response from government at this critical time,” he said. “The theatre of Question Period is not what concerns us. It’s the actual practicality of delivering, whether we're talking about the disability benefit, whether we're talking about housing actually being built. These are things that we feel very strongly about, and this will be our focus in the House.” Jcnockaert@hilltimes.com

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Fall sitting should focus on work after ‘more negativity than we’re used to’ in spring session, says PSG leader

Mood on Parliament Hill is related to an 'election mode,' according to PSG Leader Jane Cordy.

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