Opposition Motions
Our first Opposition Motion from last week comes from Yves-François Blanchet (Bloc Quebecois, Quebec, Beloeil—Chambly)
That the House remind the government that it is solely up to Quebec and the provinces to decide on the use of the notwithstanding clause.
I’ve already outlined the Notwithstanding Clause and the problems with it, and we should be extremely skeptical of any party that votes in favour of legislation that lets a government override our rights without any oversight.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 0 | 148 | 4 |
| Conservatie | 113 | 0 | 1 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 28 | 0 | 3 |
| NDP | 0 | 23 | 0 |
| Green Party | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Independent | 1 | 1 | 0 |
The Motion failed, 142 in favour and 174 against.
The Liberals pointed out that the Motion is flawed, as the federal government also has the powers to invoke the Notwithstanding Clause.
The NDP pointed out that the Notwithstanding Clause has been used against unions in Saskatchewan and Ontario, and that isn’t really its purpose.
The Green Party says the same.
Our next Opposition Motion comes from Jasraj Singh Hallan (Conservative, Alberta, Calgary Forest Lawn).
Given that:
- After eight years of this Liberal Prime Minister, inflation is at a 40-year high
- After eight years of this Liberal Prime Minister, the cost of groceries is up 11%
- After eight years of this Liberal Prime Minister, half of Canadians are cutting back on groceries
- After eight years of this Liberal Prime Minister, 20% of Canadians are skipping meals
- After eight years of this Liberal Prime Minister, the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment across Canada’s 10 biggest cities is $2,213 per month, compared to $1,171 in 2015
- After eight years of this Liberal Prime Minister, 45% of variable rate mortgage holders say they will have to sell or vacate their homes in less than nine months due to current interest rate levels
- After eight years of this Liberal Prime Minister, average monthly mortgage costs have more than doubled and now cost Canadians over $3,000 per month
- The Governor of the Bank of Canada, Tiff Macklem, has said that “inflation in Canada increasingly reflects what’s happening in Canada”
- The former Governor of the Bank of Canada, Mark Carney, has said: “But really now inflation is principally a domestic story”
- Former Liberal finance minister, Bill Morneau, has said that the government probably spent too much during COVID
- Former Liberal Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, John Manley, said that the Liberal Prime Minister’s fiscal policy is making it harder to contain inflation
The House call on the government to cap spending, cut waste, fire high-priced consultants, and eliminate inflationary deficits and taxes that have cause a cost-of-living crisis for Canadians.
So this one definitely exists for the sound bites with every sentence starting with “After eight years of this Liberal Prime Minister”, and with the actual call to action effectively boiling down to “We want the House to tell the government to stop spending money”. The scope of what Jasraj is calling for is so massive this Motion was designed to fail. And it did! 115 in favour, 202 against.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 0 | 148 | 3 |
| Conservatie | 114 | 0 | 0 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 0 | 27 | 3 |
| NDP | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| Green Party | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Independent | 1 | 1 | 0 |
The Liberals point out that the Conservatives vote against anything they try to do involving housing supply.
The Bloc Quebecois point out how repetitive this Motion is, and how every argument in it is an argument that’s been made dozens of times, this doesn’t need to be said again.
The NDP brought up increasing corporate profits and want to know why the Conservatives haven’t said anything about the impact that has on inflation.
The only real note I see from the Green Party is checking in on something the Conservatives had said. In one of their speeches on this Motion they had mentioned “the paid-off media” and “media allies”. They wanted examples of the “paid-off” media. None were given.
Bills
C-39, the Bill that would extend the exemption that prevents mental illness from qualifying for MAiD until next year, was given the express treatment in the House. A Motion was passed with unanimous consent that skipped it through the entire House process and sent it straight to the Senate.
And that’s about all that really happened last week! There were a number of reports returned from committees, and plenty of government responses to questions, but all of that is a little outside the scope of what I can manage. There’s another Opposition Motion in the works from the NDP regarding the government’s healthcare funding deal with the provinces and the money going towards for-profit healthcare, but we’ll dig into that one when it’s actually voted on sometime next week.