Paralysis of parliamentary work | The Speaker of the House forced to intervene

(Ottawa) Faced with the possibility that the Canadian state will be deprived of funding, and in the wake of the Conservatives’ refusal to suspend their filibuster (systematic obstruction) which has paralyzed the work for two months, the Speaker of the House of Commons was forced to intervene on Monday.

The referee of the works, Greg Fergus, rose from his chair in the afternoon to announce his verdict: next December 5, 6, 9 and 10 will be so-called “opposition” days.

Three of them will go to the Conservatives, while the other will belong to the New Democrats.

The objective behind this decision by the presidency is to allow the vote on the supplementary expenditure budget, which must take place no later than December 10.

This budget totals expenditures of 21.6 billion, including an envelope of some 581 million aimed at compensating Quebec for the services offered to asylum seekers in terms of accommodation.

It also contains additional funding for the dental program, the Canadian Armed Forces and support for Ukraine.

At the start of the day, the leader of the government in the House, Karina Gould, tried to resolve the impasse by presenting a motion aimed at distributing the opposition days.

The Conservative Party could thus have tabled a motion of censure unveiled last Friday.

However, MP Luc Berthold assured that day that the conservatives were “ready, at the first opportunity, to table this motion [de censure] ».

However, on Monday, the Conservatives refused to approve the government motion, which was supported by the Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party (NDP), but which required unanimous consent.

Towards another motion of censure

If the decision rendered by the president is not contested, we are heading towards another vote which will put the survival of Justin Trudeau’s government at stake.

The Conservative motion of no confidence was tailor-made to attack, in the process, New Democratic leader Jagmeet Singh.

Before the start of the filibuster Led by the Conservative Party, the Liberals had survived two conservative motions of censure.

In a press scrum on Monday, Minister Gould speculated that Pierre Poilievre was afraid “of losing a vote of no confidence again.”

The government’s legislative agenda has been on hold since September 26.

The Conservatives are demanding the publication of documents related to a green fund created in 2001, the management of which was severely criticized by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada.

The Liberals refuse to disclose them in their entirety, relying in particular on the fact that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police see them as potential violations of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.