There seems to be both a sense of amnesia and of performative wailing and garment rending as the government – with the cooperation of opposition parties – has moved time allocation on its budget implementation bill, and extended sitting hours for the final few days of the sitting. The sense of amnesia is that this kind of thing happens every June, every single year (and usually again in December), and that’s how things work. There is absolutely nothing unusual about this state of affairs, and its’ very strange that certain media outlets are making this out to be something unusual. It’s not – if anything, what’s unusual is that there are so few bills that they are trying to get over the finish line in the face of opposition that has spent an extraordinary amount of effort fighting these bills with lies, red herrings, concern trolling, and a complete lack of proportionality.

The fact that the government has imposed time allocation on its budget implementation bill is not unusual, and the fact that it’s ten hours – five at report stage and five more at third reading – is also a fairly generous amount of time, especially when considered in parliamentary terms. It’s essentially two more full days of debate for a regular Tuesday or Thursday sitting day. It’s also not really “debate,” and frankly Elizabeth May’s concerns here are a bit precious – it’s MPs reciting pre-written speeches into the record, with little interaction between them, and when it comes to report stage and third reading, there is specific purpose. The bill already had seven allotted days at second reading, which is bananas – second reading should take a single afternoon because it’s supposed to be where you discuss the overall principles of the bill, and then send it off to committee. It spent thirteen hours at committee of clause-by-clause consideration – which, again, is a fair amount considering that most committee sittings are two hours – where they heard from 65 witnesses in pre-study sessions. Five hours at report stage, to discuss whether or not to adopt the amendments agreed to at committee, is an awful lot of parliamentary time. Same again with third reading, where you are giving final consideration before final passage to the Senate, is more than generous – you are no longer debating the principle, or the details – those have all been agreed to.

This narrative that it’s a “gag” and “cutting debate” is overblown in the context of what is being offered here. This isn’t an abuse of time allocation, like we saw in previous parliaments – it’s a legitimate tool in the face of procedural obstruction, and given that this is a hung parliament, the fact that at least one opposition party is agreeing to the use of this tool makes the narrative a bit silly. But that seems to be the way these things get written up, because there is a general ignorance of procedure and what it all means.

Good reads:

• The NATO summit agreed to taking a harder line on China as a new security challenge to Western countries.
• We are expected to receive 9.5 million doses this week on a huge influx of Moderna.
• Karina Gould has confirmed that the pledged 13 million doses to be donated are the balance of Canada’s COVAX allotment, which we won’t be accepting any longer.
• The government is letting Indigenous people reclaim their traditional names on official documents, and named a new Commissioner of Indigenous Languages.
• The government’s pledged summit on Islamophobia is starting to take shape.
• The outgoing vice-chief of defence staff resigned his role early in the wake of that golf game with General Jonathan Vance.
• Major-General Dany Fortin is suing the government over his removal from the vaccine task force, claiming political interference.
• Long-time Liberal MP Wayne Easter has announced he’s not running again after nine parliaments and 28 years on the job.
• New Liberal MP Jenica Atwin put out a statement to “clarify” her position on “apartheid” in Israel, now that she is in the Liberal ranks.
• Conservative MP Tim Uppal is apologising for not pushing back further against some divisive Harper-era policies like the niqab ban while he was in Cabinet.
• Doug Ford has officially employed the Notwithstanding clause to extend its pre-writ advertising limits to a full year ahead of the fixed election date.
• Federal leaders aren’t touching questions about Alberta’s proposed referendum on equalisation with a bargepole.

Odds and ends:

There is an update to my story on the government’s challenge at Federal Court to the proposed Human Rights Tribunal hearing into the MSM blood deferral policy.

My latest Loonie Politics Quick Take video looks at how the ability to cross the floor is the ultimate expression of an MP’s independence.

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