SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 211

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 12, 2023 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 211 - Jun/12/23
Mr. John Nater
  • Jun/12/23 10:00:32 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, Centre Block has a carving in the old House of Commons chamber, and part of that carving represents the 20 members who must contribute to quorum. The current Liberal government would be doing away with the constitutionally mandated quorum requirement that, at all times, 20 members must be present in the House of Commons. Because of the Liberal-NDP coalition agreement, they would do away with something as fundamental as the constitutionality of quorum, where members must be physically present in order to do that. It is disappointing to see the efforts of the Liberal government to avoid accountability on these important issues.
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Context: House Hansard - 211 - Jun/12/23
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)
  • Jun/12/23 10:02:17 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is an interesting point the member just raised. He says that the Conservative Party would support everything we are talking about if there were a sunset clause. If I am understanding what the member just said, he would then be in full support of the motion; I look to him to give clear indication that my statement is, in fact, correct. Mr. John Nater: That was in the dissenting report. Mr. Kevin Lamoureux: Madam Speaker, he is reaffirming that by his comments across the way. I think we have to put things into proper perspective here, and part of that is recognizing the role the Conservative Party plays today on the floor of the House of Commons. I would suggest that it is very much a destructive force. They talk about the NDP voting with us on time allocation, and they try to give the impression that there is a solid coalition and so forth. However, the member does not realize that, in the last federal election, Canadians decided that it would be a minority government. In a minority government, it is not only the party that has the majority of seats that is afforded the opportunity to continue to govern, as we were given. It also ensures that the government works along with opposition parties. The Conservatives, virtually from the get-go, made it very clear that they do not see themselves as a co-operative—
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Context: House Hansard - 211 - Jun/12/23
Mr. Tom Kmiec
  • Jun/12/23 10:43:32 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I invite the member to look at the questions I submit, because I am always looking for data, content and information. That reminds me. With the member's interruption, I do have a Yiddish proverb. I hope that everything I have spoken about tonight are things I have seen. “Let you not say things that you have not seen” is a Yiddish proverb. I hope I have done that. I have stayed consistent with what I have said in past debates on the Standing Orders. The House is built on consensus and trust, and what the government is doing here, because it has a coalition ally, is simply ramming through changes to the Standing Orders. The preference has always been that we do Standing Order changes by consensus. We do not always get everything we all want. We get what we can all agree on, which are small changes. That has been the great thing about Parliament. Our rules protect backbenchers; they do not protect the front bench. These changes will protect the front bench from backbenchers. There are more backbenchers in the House, and this is the House for them and for their constituents, not for cabinet.
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