MPs in the fire-stricken British Columbia interior say they’ve been acting more as community volunteers than Members of Parliament as they help the thousands of constituents who have had to flee their homes, uncertain of what they’ll return to.

He's No. 221 on the priority list to advance any of his 16 private members' bills in this Parliament, but NDP MP Don Davies knows the drill. It's the bigger purpose that counts.

Rookie Conservative MP John Nater has written a paper on the Thursday Question, owns bound copies of Hansard, and is working on a PhD on government caucus meetings. ‘I completely accept it as nerdy,’ he says.

Her office chalks it up to a busy run-up to the House's adjournment, but Conservative Senators say there’s more to it.

Why do insiders and experts predict some of this government’s forward-thinking policies will stick? Because any change would be ‘backwards movement.’

The government is 'stymied ... by a block of partisan Conservatives who vote against the government every chance they can': PM.

Government House Leader Bardish Chagger talks about the Senate, balancing two cabinet portfolios, and a prorogation.

Parliament has risen for the summer, after tension between the two chambers bubbled up at the end. Chagger calls it a ‘period of transition.’

MPs head back to their ridings for the summer barbecue circuit.

The opposition says the government ‘chose to provoke a procedural war in an effort to get its own way,’ and Chagger remains non-committal on not forcing more unilateral Standing Order changes in the future.

'Reaching the beginning of the summer now and the fact that things need to get done certainly has a way of lighting a fire under people,’ says the NDP's Matthew Dubé.

The government insists that prime minister’s question time is here to stay, by convention, after days of backroom negotiations with the opposition parties. The opposition, meanwhile, is casting doubt on that claim.

Negotiations are ongoing between the House leaders over the government’s motion to change the rules of the House.

Liberal MP Arnold Chan pierced through the partisan games in the House on Monday, delivering a poignant and powerful speech.

‘Of course people are getting tired. It’s only natural. But they’re willing to do it, and they know why they’re here,’ says NDP Whip Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet.

Underperforming ministers could see themselves shuffled out of their portfolios in the coming months.

Bill C-51 also adds a Charter test for all government legislation and strikes outdated crimes from the books.

‘Bill C-22 is a major piece of the government approach to national security, but it is by no means the only piece,’ says Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale.

The new Conservative leader’s time as a House leader and Speaker emboldens the party's fight against House rules changes, says Conservative House leader Candice Bergen.

‘Our job is to take things to a vote,’ says Senate sponsor of C-210 Frances Lankin, an Independent, who accuses Conservative Senators of deliberately adjourning debate and proposing a change to it in hopes the bill will die.