Wednesday, December 7 packed plenty of contentious debate into an extremely short day, with a time allocation motion and debate on two bills fit within an afternoon sitting.
The Big Issue
Once again, Peter Van Loan sought to limit debate on one of the Cons' bills - this time their legislation on seat redistribution. Joe Comartin rightly slammed the Cons' constant stifling debate as "farcical". Stephane Dion noted that the new bill results in significant changes from the previous versions being pointed to in the Cons' latest chorus of "but it's been talked about before!". Alexandre Boulerice mentioned how many far more important issues were going unaddressed even as the Cons rammed through bill after bill. Jack Harris summed up the differing perspectives on the bill which the Cons were set to ignore. Mauril Belanger and Jonathan Tremblay pointed out the irony of using anti-democratic tactics to silence MPs in the name of democratic reform. And Pierre-Luc Dussault asked generally whether the Cons think limiting debate should be done as a matter of course - which they seemed to confirm in once again forcing through the motion.
Meanwhile, the day also saw some debate on the Cons' Senate legislation. Dusseault and Malcolm Allen pointed out that the election process set up by the Cons is at best illusory. Francoise Boivin noted that any hope of the Senate serving as a centre of thoughtful debate has been utterly undermined by the Harper Cons' hyperpartisanship. And Alexandre Boulerice highlighted the cost of the Senate - enough to fund both the added MPs the Libs claim we can't afford and the party funding the Cons have slashed with millions to spare.
In Brief
Francois Pilon emphasized the need for action after a couple of decades of inaction on child poverty - while Kerry-Lynne Findlay nicely contrasted her party's take by pointing out volunteer efforts while showing no interest in having Canada's elected officials do anything about poverty. Jack Harris noted how little thought and planning went into the Cons' bill to trash the gun registry, while Francoise Boivin followed in question period by pointing out the problems the Cons have created in tracking firearm sales and Andre Bellavance raised the issue of Jim Hillyer's shoot-em-up gestures during the gun registry vote. Jamie Nicholls noted the absurdity of the Cons' defence that direct interference in the Montreal Port Authority didn't count because it didn't work, while Alexandre Boulerice spotted yet another falsehood from Tony Clement. Charlie Angus, Linda Duncan and Jonathan Genest-Jourdain again connected the immediate emergency at Attawapiskat to the desperate needs of First Nations across Canada. Peter Julian lamented the fall of manufacturing-sector employment to its lowest level since anybody bothered to measure it. Ryan Cleary wondered why ACOA development funding was being used to move fish processing from Newfoundland to China. Wayne Marston suggested Canadians should have a more secure retirement plan than the Cons' roulette wheel. Julian introduced a bill to prohibit sweatshop labour goods, while Frank Valeriote proposed to prohibit recorded surveillance of Canadians' homes and property. Guy Caron managed to win the unanimous support of the House for a Senate bill to authorize the continuation of the Industrial Alliance Pacific General Insurance Corporation. Dan Albas' bill to repeal a Prohibition-era restriction on liquor transportation earned all-party approval. And Mylene Freeman challenged the Cons to do something about a glaring lack of pay equity for women.
No comments:
Post a Comment