PARLIAMENT HILL—A government decision to fill the Senate’s sitting agenda from now until possibly the last week before Christmas has fuelled Opposition speculation Prime Minister Stephen Harper plans to ensure passage of "promises-made" legislation for the Conservative Party’s base in case the government decides to prorogue Parliament in January.“I am hearing how they might want to prorogue, start fresh with a new Throne Speech,” NDP MP Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre, Man.) told The Hill Times on Monday. “I think there is some substance to it.”
Liberal MP Geoff Regan (Halifax West, N.S.) confirmed he also has been told by at least one Conservative that the government plans to prorogue to lay out a new agenda for the next year and that while the Senate extends its Chamber sittings to a full five days a week through December, the Commons may adjourn on Dec. 9, a week earlier than currently scheduled.
MPs said the scenario is plausible considering the extent to which the government has used time allocation to limit debate on major bills, including a budget implementation bill that will end government subsidies for federal political parties—a blow to the Liberals and New Democrats—another to scrap the federal long-gun registry and another that will end the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly over grain marketing in western Canada. A fourth bill to add 30 seats to the House of Commons, with the majority going to Ontario, is also among those the government wants to pass by Christmas.
“That rumour is certainly around,” Mr. Regan said. “You could argue if you wanted to prorogue and you wanted to get a certain number of bills through before the Christmas break, then you would do exactly the things they are doing.”
With the scheduled recess still three weeks away, Conservative MPs have privately grumbled about the length of the current sittings, which will have gone for an unbroken five weeks by their scheduled break.
And, with the government using full-court press since September to get its major bills through, tempers have occasionally flared, with Mr. Martin touching off a fiery debate recently when he cursed the government tactics on Twitter.
“They’re ticking them off one by one, aren’t they, those promises made regarding the gun registry, the Wheat Board, the crime bill, the Budget Implementation Act, the House seats," Mr. Martin told The Hill Times on Monday.
Sparks may fly again on Tuesday, as the Conservatives square off with the opposition over final clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-19, to end the federal long-gun registry, and destroy its entire database of records at RCMP headquarters in Ottawa.
On the eve of that meeting, where NDP MP Nathan Cullen (Skeena-Bulkley Valley, B.C.) intends to unveil last-minute amendment motions he hopes might address more moderate registry opponents in the firearms community, the head of the Canadian Bar Association’s criminal law section criticized the government plan to scrap the system.
Dan MacRury, chair of the CBA section, who happens also to be a Crown prosecutor with the Nova Scotia Public Prosecution Service, told The Hill Times the bill to end the registry contradicts the Conservative government’s claim of concern for victims of crime.
“We believe that the measures that are being undertaken by this bill scrapping the long-gun registry will jeopardize the safety not only of police officers but of victims of crime,” Mr. MacRury said in a telephone interview, emphasizing the fact he was speaking on behalf of the CBA, not as a prosecutor. He could only be reached after work hours.
“What seems to be contradictory by this government’s record is that this government has said they want to stand up for victims of crime, and it doesn’t seem to match with the scrapping of this legislation [the registry],” Mr. MacRury said, noting the CBA has consistently supported the registry and stronger gun control over the years.
“Coming up in December, we mark the anniversary of the tragedy in Montreal [massacre at L’Ecole Polytechnique]. That was the impetus to bring about this registry. I can tell you domestic violence in this country is a serious concern. If you’re concerned about domestic violence it makes no sense to scrap the registry,” he said.
“It’s going to affect officer safety, it’s going to affect investigation support, tracing firearms, this is a tool for police to be able to search for firearms. Scrapping the gun registry is not going to improve public safety. What we say is this: Canada’s gun registry allows screening of lawful gun owners, increases their accountability and provides tools to prevent diversion and misuse of firearms.”
As the government continued to press on with the registry bill and the other key bills, Conservative MP Candice Hoeppner (Portage-Lisgar, Man.) challenged the NDP over a new ad the party planned to use on Montreal billboards, suggesting that sales of the unrestricted rifle used to kill 14 female engineering students at L’Ecole Polytechnique in 1989 will no longer be tracked under the new Conservative firearms program. Justice Minister Vic Toews' (Provencher, Man.) office confirmed to The Hill Times last week gun dealers or individuals who sell or transfer rifles and shotguns will no longer have to publicly report the transactions. Bill C-19 says gun sellers can choose to contact the federal Registrar of Firearms to verify acquisition licences firearms buyers claim to hold, but are not obligated to do so.
Ms. Hoeppner told the Commons the rifle featured in the NDP ad is “clearly a restricted firearm” and as such will be subject to controls and registration, unlike most rifles and shotguns. The rifle used in the 1989 shootings at L’Ecole Polytechnique was a non-restricted firearm, and opponents to Bill C-19 have argued the model will no longer be tracked once the registry and other elements of the Firearms Act are eliminated.
Mr. Martin brushed off Ms. Hoeppner's comment, made in response to Commons question from Conservative MP Bryan Hayes (Sault St. Marie, Ont.).
"You register your car, you register your motorcycle, you register your Ski Doo, you register your outboard motor, you should be registering your goddamn rifles," Mr. Martin said.
Origin
Source: Hill Times
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