The NDP says it too will not roll over for the latest omnibus budget implementation act, Bill C-45, which amends more than a dozen other acts and covers a range of measures, including further controversial changes and exemptions to federal environmental protection.
“We’re not going to fold,” NDP MP Malcolm Allen (Welland, Ont.) told The Hill Times, hinting the official opposition also plans to take part in House action to protest the legislation.
In a separate development involving opposition accusations that the government is preventing Parliament from adequate scrutiny of legislation, regulation changes and spending plans, the NDP slammed Treasury Board President Tony Clement (Parry Sound-Muskoka, Ont.) for snubbing an invitation to testify at the House Public Accounts Committee.
NDP MP Linda Duncan (Edmonton-Strathcona, Alta.) told The Hill Times that Mr. Clement "rebuffed" an advance invitation to appear at the committee to answer questions about $87-million in increased spending by his department, which was revealed in supplementary spending estimates the government tabled in Parliament.
Bill C-45 faces only one more day of limited scrutiny by 11 House committees before an 11:59 p.m. deadline on Wednesday, Nov. 21, for the House Finance Committee to end consideration of any opposition amendments prior to voting the bill through committee clause-by-clause beginning at midnight Wednesday.
Liberals plan to introduce the onslaught of amendment motions at the House Finance Committee. But with no chance of even voting on them before the 11:59 p.m. deadline, the Liberals believe Commons rules will allow them to propose the amendments once the Conservative-dominated committee reports the 414-page Bill C-45 back to the Commons on Thursday.
"If the Conservatives stopped trying to hide everything, from tax hikes, to gutting environmental protection in these massive omnibus bills, then Parliamentarians would not have to resort to such measures," said Liberal MP Scott Brison (Kings-Hants, N.S.).
In a limited response to earlier opposition resistance as the government limited debate on the bill during its second reading stage in the Commons, the government agreed to hive off portions of the legislation to another 10 House committees, who have until 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 20, to report back to the House Finance Committee with possible proposed amendments. The House Finance Committee will then vote on those recommendations.
Among other things, the legislation exempts one of the government’s top projects, a new bridge linking Windsor, Ont., and Detroit, from federal environmental and species protection legislation, giving Cabinet the authority to make decisions in those areas as the bridge is being planned and while it is under consideration.
The bill also exempts thousands of streams, rivers and lakes across Canada from the provisions of the federal Navigable Waters Protection Act, ostensibly to streamline and speed up municipal and provincial infrastructure projects and approvals for the waterways. The bill retains federal protection for Canada’s coastal waters, the Great Lakes, 97 other lakes across the country, many in resort areas, and 62 rivers, which prompted opposition MPs to accuse the government of retaining authority for many of those waterways for political reasons.
Several of the lakes and waterways, including the Toronto cottage country around Muskoka Lake, are situated in Mr. Clement's electoral district, which prompted the opposition to claim that Mr. Clement is intent on retaining clout over any decisions the federal government may have to make over construction of bridges and other waterway infrastructure in the region.
The Assembly of First Nations protested at a recent hearing of the Commons fisheries committee because neither Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.), despite his public commitments to relations with First Nations, or the government consulted with First Nations before including substantial changes to native fishery rights.
Ms. Duncan said Mr. Clement contradicted government claims of transparency by declining the committee invitation to appear. The committee clerk, on behalf of the committee, invited Mr. Clement last week and Ms. Duncan said committee clerks informed her and other MPs on Monday that Mr. Clement would not be attending the Public Accounts Committee hearing on Tuesday.
Ms. Duncan said the committee had decided to invite government witnesses through advance notices to avoid last-minute replies that ministers or other senior witnesses were unavailable.
"That is precisely what our committee did last week. We said we wanted to hear from Mr. Clement, the Treasury Board, on the estimates, and we specified the senior officials, and we have been rebuffed by all of the above," said Ms. Duncan.
"They were not available. How can he not be available? That is our committee's job."
Original Article
Source: hill times
Author: TIM NAUMETZ
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