OTTAWA — MPs from all parties say they’re willing to devote extra hours to study the Conservative government’s controversial anti-terror bill.
But how many hours that ought to be polarized the Tories and Opposition New Democrats, who locked the committee down into hours of procedural wrangling Thursday over the scope of the study.
The House of Commons public safety committee is charged with examining Bill C-51, a proposed piece of legislation introduced in the fall to increase the powers of Canada’s cops and spies in the name of fighting terrorism.
The law was proposed in the wake of two shooting deaths in October that were branded as terrorist attacks by the government; the Conservatives say the need for the bill is so urgent that its study should be focused and brief.
“This is absolutely essential to the national security of this country,” Roxanne James, the parliamentary secretary for public safety, told the committee.
The Conservatives initially wanted four meetings of two hours each for the study but have backed down under pressure, allowing for eight meetings and up to 50 witnesses.
People are weary of hearing politicians bicker and want to see action, said Tory MP Rick Norlock.
“Most Canadians think hours of debate in the House and things we are going to do in committee is more than enough,” he said.
Though the New Democrats say they won’t support the bill, they are still calling for far greater scrutiny of it at committee.
They want 25 meetings and twice that number of witnesses, while still meeting the Conservative timeline of wrapping up study by the end of March.
“We need a comprehensive study, that’s not asking too much. That’s not being unreasonable,” said NDP MP Rosane Dore Lefebvre.
“It’s a question of doing our work as parliamentarians and that is what is at the heart of this.”