The myriad ways in which this government continues to abuse process for the sake of expediency in the face of the current pandemic never ceases to amaze. After the unnecessary five-week prorogation during which things could have been accomplished, the government needed to act with alacrity to get the CERB replacements out the door, and this meant very little time for a proper legislative process – and that should have been a red flag right there. They introduced their bill, and then set about ensuring additional negotiations with the NDP that required amendments to said bill. But rather than go through a proper amendment process, the government simply tabled a new, tweaked version of the same bill, and then pushed through a motion to see it fast-tracked through the Commons with a mere four-and-a-half hours of debate and no committee process, so that it can pass in a single day – today – and head to the Senate tomorrow for rapid passage and royal assent.

This is not normal. This is not good. The Conservatives even put forward a motion last week that would see the Commons meet on Sunday so that they could do Committee of the Whole and maybe even have a proper amendment process as part of that, but the Bloc denied consent. Rather than negotiate and try again, they went with this route instead, which is a problem. This kind of nonsense may have made a limited amount of sense for the emergency legislation that passed through the early part of the pandemic when Parliament was ostensibly suspended, but it’s not suspended any longer. And the opposition parties have largely stated that they don’t want to be seen as impediment to getting people their needed benefits, so it’s not like a proper process would drag on forever – maybe an extra day to do things properly. But no.

My patience for this state of affairs is pretty much exhausted. There is no reason why we shouldn’t be running proper legislative processes, and why Parliament can’t bubble and operate in a largely normal capacity like they should be. These shenanigans are weakening Parliament, and it’s not a good look.

Good reads:

• The plans to end boil water advisories on First Nations reserves by next year may face delays because some First Nations are limiting contact with outsiders.
• The Parliamentary Budget Officer calculates that Veterans Affairs will need 392 more staffers to clear its backlog (after they already hired 300).
• The American government is appealing the softwood lumber decision against it to the very WTO body that they have effectively sabotaged. Convenient!
• Current employees at Rideau Hall are being given until October 5^th to decide if they want to participate into the investigation into workplace bullying and harassment.
• Here’s a look at MPs trying to cope with current realities – not seeing colleagues, meetings being cold and stiff, and others still going to events (!) despite COVID.
• Now that they are taking credit for sick benefits and higher recovery benefit levels, the NDP are planning to push the Liberals on wealth taxes.
• Kady O’Malley’s Process Nerd column offers a reminder about opposition dynamics and who really has the balance of power in a hung parliament.
• Colby Cosh contrasts how the BC NDP and the federal Greens dealt with nomination controversies, and what the inevitable fallout of these decisions could be.
• Susan Delacourt ponders the difference between “news” and political “messaging,” particularly given the current global pandemic.
• Delacourt also delves into Trudeau’s veiled shot at Trump in his UN speech lamenting the decline of the rules-based international order.

Odds and ends:

For the CBA’s National Magazine, I looked at the imminent closure of the abortion clinic in Fredericton, New Brunswick, because of provincial intransigence.

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