On Monday, House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus temporarily paused the filibuster that has prevented Parliament from functioning for the past two months.
The speaker designated Dec. 5 through 10 as “supply days,” giving MPs a brief period to conduct crucial business. Perhaps most crucially, the government will be able to meet a Dec. 10 deadline for passing the supplementary budget, averting a cash crunch for federal agencies.
But after Dec. 10, parliamentarians will again be prevented from performing one of their key functions — legislating — as the filibuster resumes.
So far, the parliamentary gridlock looks unlikely to affect popular support for the parties responsible for causing it. But sources say it has implications for Canadians, potentially preventing legislation from being passed before a 2025 election.
“I would say that most of the public doesn’t even realize that this filibuster is going on,” said Jonathan Malloy, a professor of political science at Carleton University.
But both the Conservatives and Liberals are “playing for public opinion,” he says.
“The Conservatives are really saying, ‘We’re holding up … Parliament because the government won’t release documents … and it won’t call an election, and so we’re just standing up for Canadians by doing this.’”
But “the government can turn and say, ‘Well, no, we’re trying to get the people’s business done and the Conservatives are getting in the way,” Malloy said.
Parliamentary gridlock
The parliamentary gridlock stems from a dispute over documents in the government’s possession.
In June, the auditor general released a report saying Sustainable Development Technology Canada — a now-defunct green technology fund — was financially mismanaged and plagued by ethics violations.
On Sept. 30, the Conservatives initiated a motion calling for the government to turn over fund documents to the RCMP. The motion is considered a matter of parliamentary privilege, meaning it takes precedence over other matters in the House of Commons.
So far, the government has only released redacted versions of the documents to a parliamentary law clerk, citing concerns that releasing information to the RCMP would violate privacy and due process rights.
Debate on this motion can continue until the matter is resolved, effectively blocking other items — like government bills or private members’ business — from being addressed. Either the Bloc Québécois or NDP could vote with the Liberals to break the filibuster.
“The problem is that there are all kinds of complicated procedures, and if one party really wants to hold things up, they use those procedures to their own advantage,” said Malloy.
In Malloy’s view, “the Conservatives are deliberately slowing Parliament. They feel that they’ll get political credit for it.”
It is not clear that they will.
In an Oct. 23 Leger poll, the Conservatives and Liberals were both blamed for the procedural stalemate. The poll indicated 27 per cent of respondents blamed the Conservatives, and 27 per cent blamed the Liberals.
The poll indicated a majority of Canadians — 55 per cent — were not aware of the stalemate. But of those who were, nearly 40 per cent said they would like the government and opposition parties to work together to resolve the issue. Another 35 per cent said they believe there should be an election.
Nate Erskine-Smith, a Liberal MP, says he hears from constituents in the Toronto riding of Beaches—East York that they “overwhelmingly want Parliament to work.” But he also noted “people are busy with their own lives, and they’re not watching every minor detail of Parliament.”
Stalled legislation
If the standoff continues, it could prevent Parliament from passing legislation that does affect voters’ lives, even if they are too busy to notice.
One key bill the Liberals have prioritized passing this parliamentary session is Bill C-63, the proposed Online Harms Act. The bill, which was introduced by Justice Minister Arif Virani in February, aims to protect Canadians from harmful online content. It has been held up due to the parliamentary stalemate.
On Wednesday, Virani announced the bill would be split into two pieces of legislation. Less controversial sections dealing with child protection will now be separated from more controversial sections dealing with hate speech.
Another legislative priority for the Liberals is Bill C-61, which aims to increase access to clean drinking water in Indigenous communities. The bill is currently under consideration by the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs.
“It would be a shame to see things like clean water for Indigenous communities [not pass],” said Erskine-Smith.
The government’s proposed hike in the capital gains tax is also held up in Parliament. Canada’s business community has been vocal that the uncertainty surrounding this legislation is affecting companies’ ability to file their tax returns.
The Liberals did manage to partially circumvent the parliamentary gridlock on Nov. 28 by leveraging the NDP to temporarily pause the privilege debate and pass their controversial GST holiday bill.
“The NDP broke ranks here to support the GST bill and only the GST bill,” said Malloy.
Legislation that does not pass before an election typically lapses, requiring it to be reintroduced in the next parliamentary session — if there is still a desire to legislate on the matter.
Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux says the Conservatives could agree to deal with the fund documents in the Procedures and House Affairs Committee. This would free up members of Parliament to proceed with live legislation.
“You shouldn’t be paralyzing the House of Commons in the things that it could or should be doing for Canadians,” said Lamoureux, who serves as parliamentary secretary to Government House Leader Karina Gould.
“To me, the disappointment I have is the [Conservatives’] disregard of Parliament.”
The Conservative Party did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Malloy says the filibuster is unlikely to be resolved in the near term.
“The only concrete answer is an election,” he said. “And that’s what Conservatives have been saying all along… They’re scanning the polls. The government, of course, is not doing so well. So there’s not a lot of motivation to negotiate here.”
