Motions
ArriveCAN – Pierre Poilievre (Conservative Leader, Ontario, Carleton)
Pierre has a Motion on the ArriveCAN spending. It’s a bit of a long one, but he says that, given that:
- The Auditor General’s ArriveCAN audit determined that the app cost taxpayers at least $60-million, but concluded it is “impossible to determine the actual cost of the application”
- The Procurement Ombud found that in 76% of ArriveCAN contracts, some or all of the contractors’ proposed resources, such as subcontractors and employees, did not perform any work
- GC Strategies, an IT company that does no actual IT work, was paid nearly $20-million in relation to the ArriveCAN app
The House:
- Call on the Prime Minister to table in the House of Commons, no later than Monday, March 18, 2024, a report which details the complete direct and associated costs concerning the ArriveCAN app incurred to date, including the total amounts paid to contractors and subcontractors, broken down by contractor or subcontractor, and the value of staff time represented by the salary, bonuses and other expenses paid to all public servants who worked on the app, in relation to all expenses respecting
- Research and development of the app
- Management and storage of the data collected by the app
- software development, testing and maintenance
- Training for government employees for using and troubleshooting the app
- Call centres used for the app
- ArriveCAN-related communications with travellers by e-mail or text message
- Market and opinion research
- Advertising
- Public relations
- Merchandise, gifts and promotional material
- Processing of security clearances
- Travellers’ expenses after being wrongfully directed by the ArriveCAN app to quarantine
- The services of legal counsel involved in contract negotiation, litigation arising from procurement or the use and implementation of the app, and the numerous investigations conducted related to the app
- Any other costs related to the ArriveCAN app
- Call on the government to collect and recoup all funds paid to ArriveCAN contractors and subcontractors which did no work on the ArriveCAN app, within 100 days of this motion being adopted, and for the Prime Minister to table a report in the House demonstrating that taxpayer funds have been repaid.
So basically because the cost of ArriveCAN has turned out to be significantly higher than the original estimate and it looks like a lot of money went towards people who didn’t actually do any work on the app Pierre wants a comprehensive report of where all the money went and wants anything that was wasted to be paid back to the government.
The Motion went up for a vote and passed with 170 voting in favour and 149 voting against.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 0 | 148 | 4 |
| Conservative | 113 | 0 | 3 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 31 | 0 | 1 |
| NDP | 23 | 0 | 0 |
| Green | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Independent | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Extension of sitting hours and conduct of extended proceedings – Steven MacKinnon (Liberal, Quebec, Gatineau)
Steven has a Motion to change how certain matters are handled in the House to speed up the process. This is coming on accusations that the Conservatives have been attempting to filibuster proceedings and just block the government from getting anything done. The goal here is to restrict the ability to tie up the House and get bills passed quicker without hurting our MPs’ ability to debate them.
First we’ve got extending how long the House sits on any given day. Normally going into extended hours requires a vote. Under Steven’s changes the government only needs one leader of another party to extend the sitting hours to midnight on any day that an urgent matter is going to be discussed. Note that this has to be done at least a day in advance, and needs to be done during normal sitting hours. (So if the House normally finishes at 6:30 you’d need to get the agreement to do this before then.)
On days when this extension have happened anything not related to the urgent matter will be finished discussion at the normal time the House would finish for that day. (6:30pm Monday, 5:30pm Tuesday to Thursday, 1:30pm Friday) This means no more discussion on Opposition Motions, Private Members’ Bills, no new Motions being introduced, nothing. The House’s focus switches entirely to the urgent matter.
Next up we’ve got a change speeding up last-minute debates around budget bills. On the last day that the House is required to pass a budget the Speaker won’t need to check for approval to deal with any motions that come up or to advance to a vote. All of those steps will just be skipped and the bill will go straight to a vote.
The next little change Steven makes is to allow a call for the Third Reading of a government bill on the same day it comes back from committee.
Steven also wants to change how things are handled leading up to the summer and winter breaks. First, the government will be able to adjourn the House early without notice in the few days leading up to these breaks. (Three days for the summer break, two for the winter) This will automatically happen, no debates or votes. Second, any votes that come up during those last few days cannot be put off until later unless it’s for a Private Members’ Bill. Any votes will be required to happen in those days before the House goes on break. (This would prevent delaying a major government bill from being passed until after the break)
Finally Steven wants to make some changes to directly address the big voting marathon we saw recently. On any day, after midnight, that the House has not completed a series of votes on a bill any Minister can call to suspend the House until the next day at 9:00am. This would give MPs a chance to get some sleep before needing to return and continue with the votes.
This Motion passed with 170 voting in favour and 139 voting against.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 146 | 0 | 4 |
| Conservative | 0 | 109 | 3 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 0 | 30 | 1 |
| NDP | 22 | 0 | 0 |
| Green | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Independent | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The debates on this one got pretty bad pretty fast, so I’m not going to go into details. Suffice to say the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois feel that this Motion is a sign that the Liberals can’t keep the government running and are trying to force through legislation without giving anyone time to hold them to account.
Committee Reports
Committee on Government Operations and Estimates – ArriveCAN
The Committee on Government Operations and Estimates (OGGO) has been working on a study on ArriveCAN, including its cost to the government. As part of this study they asked to speak to Kristian Firth and Darren Anthony, the owners of GC Strategies.
For anyone who doesn’t know, GC Strategies is the company that was contracted for the development of ArriveCAN. They then subcontracted out the work to actually get the app developed. There’s some controversy right now over how GC Strategies got the original contract, as well as how much ArriveCAN has ended up costing the government.
OGGO’s report back to the House is on the fact that Kristian and Darren have refused to testify before them, that it’s questionable how much money they received for ArriveCAN, and that the RCMP are currently investigating ArriveCAN and implicating the two of them.
Not being able to call Kristian and Darren to testify is making it difficult to complete their review of ArriveCAN, so OGGO has requested that the House issue an Order to the two of them to testify at a time the chair of the committee finds convenient within 21 days. If the two of them fail to testify, OGGO would also like the ability to have them taken into custody until they’ve completed their study.
The House has granted both of these requests with unanimous consent.
Bill Updates
C-318 – An Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act and the Canada Labour Code (adoptive and intended parents)
C-318 came back from its committee review with a few changes which were promptly struck down by the Speaker.
The first change the committee made was to include situations where an Indigenous child is placed with a caregiver following Indigenous customs instead of through a standard adoption. The feds are expected, under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, to make sure legislation is compatible with Indigenous customs. This change follows that expectation.
The committee chair decided these changes couldn’t be applied as they’re outside the scope of C-318 and additional spending requirements. (A Private Members’ Bill needs a Royal Recommendation to introduce new spending, and turns out committees just aren’t allowed to introduce new spending at all.) The chair was overruled by the rest of the committee, but the Speaker has decided to side with them and remove these changes completely.
C-354 – An Act to amend the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Act (Quebec’s cultural distinctiveness and French-speaking communities)
C-354 went up for its Second Reading vote and passed with 167 in favour and 150 against.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 0 | 148 | 4 |
| Conservative | 111 | 0 | 3 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 31 | 0 | 1 |
| NDP | 23 | 0 | 0 |
| Green | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Independent | 1 | 1 | 0 |
The Bloc Québécois are pushing this Bill out of concern that the CRTC is no longer working with Quebec to protect its interests in French-language media. They call out that there’s no formal system for Quebec to require the CRTC consult them on issues that affect them, and are concerned that the tradition of alternating between francophones and anglophones for chair of the CRTC has now been broken. They say that C-354 is important to protect French culture in Canada.
The Liberals argue that Quebec already has ways to speak to the CRTC during consultations. They point out that the requirements for consultations often include meeting with language minorities that are affected by the decision, as well as open consultations which Quebec could use to make its case for or against whatever’s being discussed.
C-354 will now be sent to the Committee on Canadian Heritage.
C-321 – An Act to amend the Criminal Code (assaults against persons who provide health services and first responders)
C-321 went up for its Third Reading vote and passed with everyone voting in favour of it. It will now be sent to the Senate.
C-320 – An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (disclosure of information to victims)
C-320 went up for its Third Reading vote and also passed with everyone voting in favour. It’s now also in front of the Senate.
C-35 – Canada Early Learning and Child Care Act
C-35 came back from the Senate with a minor change to some wording. This change was accepted with unanimous consent, and it is now waiting for Royal Assent.
Closing Fun
And that’s it for the week! The House is on its March Break and will be back on the 18th!