The Canadian Press
Joan Bryden
OTTAWA—The Justin Trudeau era begins in earnest this Friday with all the pomp of a traditional speech from the throne.
But thereafter, the new Liberal government is aiming to break from tradition—promising to transform the way Parliament operates to empower backbenchers, diminish partisanship, restore civility, make government more accountable, be more family-friendly, and create a more independent Senate.
In short, the prime minister is hoping to bring his “sunny ways” to an institution known more recently for its toxic hyper-partisanship.
The shift will start with the text of the throne speech itself—expected to be a short, factual recitation of the government’s priorities, recapping the highlights of the Liberal election platform with minimal rhetorical flourishes.
The House of Commons will sit for a week before taking an extended Christmas break, just long enough to pass a motion putting into effect two of the central platform planks: a tax cut for middle-income earners and tax hike for the wealthiest one percent.
The sweeping democratic reforms promised by Trudeau will take longer to implement but government House leader Dominic LeBlanc intends to set the wheels in motion immediately so that changes can go into effect soon after the Commons returns in late January.
He’ll move to reconstitute the procedure and House affairs committee, with a request that it “quickly” make recommendations on the best way to deliver on Trudeau’s vow to set aside one question period each week for MPs to grill the prime minister, as is done in the United Kingdom.
Given the whole point is to make the prime minister more accountable, LeBlanc said he doesn’t want to impose question period changes on opposition parties.
“I really want to be governed by what they think will work and we don’t have a rigid idea, other than what we think to be the U.K. precedent,” he said in an interview.
“But if we wanted to adapt it to the Canadian Parliament, we’d be open to looking at that.”
The committee also will be asked to consider ways to make the Commons more “family-friendly,” including changing the sitting hours, holding votes earlier in the day, and doing away with Friday sittings.
The only other committee that will be struck immediately is the finance committee so it can begin pre-budget consultations.
Other committees won’t be struck until the Commons returns in January.
LeBlanc already has had preliminary discussions with opposition House leaders about the anticipated reforms, and is encouraged by the response thus far.
“Everybody seems to want to begin this new Parliament in a more collegial, respectful, constructive tone than perhaps the last one ended on,” he said.
“My hope is it can last a good chunk of time.”
