Politics This Morning: Liberals push for hybrid House for another year

Good Tuesday morning, Unless you are a House of Commons employee, that is; then it is probably a very disappointing morning, because you are still at work. Government House Leader MARK HOLLAND played the role of Party Pooper in Chief yesterday when he announced that the House would not be rising early this week. Holland broke that news while holding a press conference to discuss his government’s accomplishments in the spring legislative session. The fact that such a press conference was being held yesterday seemed to portend that no further accomplishments were coming in the remaining days of the week (the House is officially scheduled to adjourn on Thursday). Holland’s Liberals want to use the remaining time to fight with the Conservatives over hybrid proceedings in the House of Commons. Plans can change quickly in the House, but as of yesterday, Holland said he expected to spend Wednesday and possibly Thursday debating a new government motion to extend the semi-virtual (a.k.a “hybrid”) sittings of the House for another year. The NDP has already confirmed it will support the motion. Holland justified the extension of hybrid proceedings essentially by arguing that COVID-19 was still around, making MPs sick, and that hybrid proceedings allow those sick MPs to continue to participate in Parliament and not spread their virus to others. But wait, you might say, didn’t the House of Commons just decide to drop its COVID-19 vaccine mandate? Yes it did. Aren’t the same people involved in making both decisions? Also yes, basically. Conservative House Leader JOHN BRASSARD called a press conference to express his displeasure with the motion, which he said will allow government ministers to continue to avoid the added layer of scrutiny that comes with press scrums and in-person committee appearances. He also pointed out the occasional technical failings of the virtual debating and voting processes, and the documented toll virtual proceedings were taking on House interpretation staff. Conservative House Leader John Brassard argued yesterday that there is no need to pass a hybrid proceedings motion now, with MPs set to leave for the summer. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade Perhaps the most salient question raised by this motion is, why now? More specifically, what is the value of extending the hybrid sittings for a year just days before the summer adjournment, instead of deciding whether it is necessary based on the public health circumstances when Parliament returns in September? Brassard noted in his press conference that “there is no reason…why we cannot flip a switch if and when that comes.” Perhaps Holland’s Liberals are looking at the pattern of COVID-19 infections over the past few years, and hoping to get ahead of another fall wave of the virus. Perhaps they just want to jam one more wedge issue into Parliament before departing for the summer, and devote the first days upon their return in the fall to government business—although quick starts in the fall have not been this government’s MO. Perhaps they just want to push “hybrid” as far as possible because it’s a lot more comfortable to participate in Parliament from one’s couch. This is, after all, a conversation being had between workers and managers across the country every day: We just showed you we could do our work remotely. We like it that way. How about we just keep a good thing going? As for whether Parliament’s other Chamber will follow suit, the answer seems to be “maybe, but not right now.” The government’s leader in the Senate, MARC GOLD, told PTM yesterday that Senate leaders would have that discussion in the lead-up to the Senate’s return in the fall. RAYMONDE SAINT-GERMAIN, the leader of the Senate’s largest group, said the subject of extending hybrid proceedings had “yet to be discussed” between the Senate groups. In Parliament Sloly talks Emergencies Act at committee There are plenty of parliamentary committees meeting today. Here are a few highlights: MICHAEL GEIST is testifying at a 9 a.m. meeting of the Senate Transport and Communications Committee, as it continues its study of the government’s bill to bring streaming services under the Broadcasting Act, C-11. Geist holds the Canada research chair in internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, and he has been one of the fiercest critics of Bill C-11 and its predecessor, C-10. If you’re curious about the controversy surrounding the bill, tune in here: you’ll hear testimony from Geist as well as KONRAD VON FINCKENSTEIN, a former chair of the CRTC—which regulates broadcasting—who is another critic of the bill; ALAIN SAULNIER, a former communications professor who supports C-11; and MICHÈLE RIOUX, who serves as director of the center for the study of integration and globalization at the Université du Québec à Montréal. Former Ottawa police chief PETER SLOLY, who resigned amid the bungled police response to the convoy occupation in February, is testifying before the joint parliamentary committee studying the government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act. The committee is hearing first from OPP Commissioner THOMAS CARRIQUE, at 6:30 p.m., then from Sloly at 8 p.m. Parliamentary Budget Officer YVES GIROUX is answering questions from the Government Operations and Estimates Committee at 3:30 p.m.. The committee is digging into Giroux’s recent report on the government’s military spending, which concluded that military spending has increased substantially under Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU, but was between $13- and $18-billion per year short of NATO’s target of two per cent of GDP. At 11 a.m., the House of Commons’ head of security, PATRICK MCDONELL, and the Parliamentary Protective Service’s acting director, LARRY BROOKSON, will testify as part of the Procedure and House Affairs Committee’s study of expanding the security boundaries of Parliament Hill to cover adjacent streets. What’s cabinet up to? The Liberal cabinet will hold their final meeting in the spring session today. Industry Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE will be in Toronto this afternoon for something called the “Collision Conference.” The conference is marketing itself as “the Olympics of tech.” Top keynote speakers include CEOs of companies with names like “Dapper Labs” and “Polkadot.” Blockchain is heavily involved. Champagne is participating in a “fireside chat” with Luxembourg’s economy minister. You get the gist. What else is happening today? Green Party Interim Leader AMITA KUTTNER has called a press conference at 10 a.m. in front of Parliament Hill's West Block to introduce the party's new deputy leaders. Interim Green Party Leader Amita Kuttner is holding a press conference on the Hill this morning to introduce two new deputy leaders. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade Conservative members of the joint parliamentary committee studying assisted dying will hold a press conference in the Sir John A Macdonald Building at 1 p.m. to discuss the committee’s interim report, and their dissenting report. BOB RAE, the former Liberal Party interim leader (and former former NDP premier) who is now Canada’s ambassador to the UN, will deliver a lecture entitled “New World Order? Russia’s Attack on Ukraine,” at an event held by the C.D. Howe Institute at 12:30 p.m. Ottawa time. Global Affairs Canada will release a report tomorrow entitled “State of Trade 2022.” The department’s chief economist and director general of the foreign ministry’s Trade Analysis Bureau, MARIE-FRANCE PAQUET, will be on hand at an event celebrating the release, which is being hosted by the Ottawa Economics Association. In case you missed it Liberals commit cash to NORAD Defence Minister ANITA ANAND announced yesterday that the government would be spending $4.9-billion over six years to upgrade its contribution to the defence of North America. The money would be used to pay for better radar and other technologies to detect incoming long-range aircraft and missiles, among other things. Angus bemoans conspiracy theorists Veteran NDP MP CHARLIE ANGUS gave us a window into the world of an MP in what is becoming a golden age for conspiracy theorists, in a piece he had published in Policy Magazine. Send your news tips to pmazereeuw@hilltimes.com

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Politics This Morning: Liberals push for hybrid House for another year

Plus, Yves Giroux, Peter Sloly, and Michael Geist will testify before parliamentary committees today.

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