Roundup: A pointless procedural dust-up

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The shine has come off around the medical assistance in dying bill, as the government decided that enough was enough, and it was time to send it to committee. So they invoked time allocation, and not surprisingly, there was all manner of outcry about how terrible this was, and Conservatives like Jason Kenney equivocating, insisting that they never employed time allocation on such sensitive life and death matters as this (ignoring things like safe injection sites or laws around prostitution as also being life and death matters for those that it affects). Kenney’s later assertions about what this bill will do were also…fanciful to say the least.

https://twitter.com/dgardner/status/727954797190479872

I will say that I have little sympathy for MPs who railed about the government cutting off debate, after two nights of midnight sittings and over 84 MPs having spoken to the bill. This is second reading debate, which is the principle of the bill. And I’ve listened to enough speeches to know that they all basically say “this is a very personal issue,” and “What about palliative care?” with minor variations throughout. The concern trolling about the conscience rights of doctors is also in there, never mind that this is a bill dealing with the criminal code and that issue is one for the provinces who deliver healthcare and the provincial certification bodies for physicians. There remains committee stage debate – which is the real meat of the bill – report stage once it comes back, and third reading debate. If MPs still have things to say, there remain plenty of opportunities, and the government also pointed out that some MPs had been up to speak several times on the bill, meaning that there couldn’t possibly be that many more MPs who needed to speak. And if you’ll forgive my particular cynicism, how many more times do we need to hear MPs read those same sentiments in the record over and over again? The government was already generous in the amount of time it gave to debate second reading – accusing them of somehow stifling debate or invoking closure were both patently wrong and false. And so, once all of the procedural wrangling and grousing was done, it passed second reading by a wide margin. Liberal MP Robbie Falcon-Outlette was the sole member of that party to vote against, and he went on Power & Politics to make a bunch of patently false equivalences between this bill and the suicide crisis in places like Attawapiskat, with a host of intellectually dishonest arguments strewn along the way. The bill also began pre-study in the Senate, where I expect it will get a much tougher ride, and there remains a very real chance that even if the bill passes the Commons unscathed that it will not do so in the Senate, and that it may not pass by deadline.

https://twitter.com/cmathen/status/727990740576403456

Good reads:

  • Six months into his government, Trudeau says they’ve made a good start but have plenty left to do. The opposition is not so generous in its assessment.
  • Donald Bayne thinks that Mike Duffy should avail himself of the fund used to help Senators who need legal assistance.
  • The mandatory long-form census is back, and everyone is overjoyed.
  • Elizabeth May suggested that Trudeau reshuffle all deputy ministers because they have too much attachment to accomplishments under Harper, suggesting she doesn’t understand how the civil service works.
  • May also appeared to suggest a link between climate change and the wildfire in Fort McMurray (and walked back from it) while Trudeau tried to keep links at bay.
  • The government expects to have infrastructure funding agreements signed with the provinces by next month.
  • While the Conservatives are banging on about Iran, a UN human rights expert says that now is the time to re-engage with the country (within reason).
  • Anne Kingston is unimpressed with Justin Trudeau’s brand-building exercises.
  • Andrew Coyne deliberately confuses issues going on in the Senate, because that’s helpful.

Odds and ends:

Canada will host the “Three Amigos” summit on June 29th.