Liberals shut down one round of debate on first budget bill

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The Liberal government is shutting down debate on its first budget bill, prompting opposition accusations that the party is breaking its pledge to be more respectful of Parliament.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Government House Leader Dominic LeBlanc defended the move on Tuesday, arguing that it was important to get the bill through second reading so that it can be studied in committee. The government wants the bill passed by the House and the Senate before Parliament rises for the summer.

"We believe that we have had a full and robust debate. We believe that we should move forward so that we can make a real difference for Canadians, and so that we can get the benefits, for example, that veterans deserve to them in a timely and efficient way," Mr. Morneau said, noting that the bill received 19 hours of debate.

The government invoked a process called time allocation, which brings debate on a bill to an end and forces a vote to send it to the next stage in the parliamentary process. In opposition, the Liberals were highly critical of the previous Conservative government's use of time allocation.

The Liberal Party did not specifically promise not to use time allocation. However, the platform included a chapter of promises on fair and open government that included a pledge not to use legislative tricks to avoid scrutiny.

Specifically, the Liberals promised not to use prorogation – which terminates a session of Parliament – to avoid difficult political circumstances. The party also promised not to use large omnibus bills as a way of making it harder for Parliament to scrutinize legislation.

The budget bill, C-15, has 179 numbered pages plus an opening summary. Liberal ministers noted that the budget bill is much smaller than the ones presented by the Conservatives.

The government's arguments were dismissed by opposition MPs.

"When Canadians voted on Oct. 19, they were told by the Liberals that they were voting for real change. The cutting off of debate here today is the opposite of that. It is certainly in line with the anti-democratic approach that we saw from the previous Conservative government," NDP MP Niki Ashton said.

"Not only are the measures inadequate in this budget, but, certainly, the failure to give us the opportunity to scrutinize the budget properly certainly flies in the face of that commitment to Canadians of real change," she said.

The Liberal government has also used time allocation on Bill C-10, which lifts certain restrictions on Air Canada in relation to the location of its maintenance work, and Bill C-14, the bill that would amend the Criminal Code to legalize medically assisted death.

Mr. LeBlanc, the Government House Leader, told reporters that he tried to reach an agreement with the opposition parties, but he claimed that they wanted the government to shut down debate in order to create an argument.

"I would hope that you would discount the fabricated indignation from some of the opposition parties by the fact that, first of all, it is unfortunately a very necessary and normal tool to advance legislation through Parliament when the opposition parties are not able to come to an understanding with the government," he said.