OTTAWA — The Harper government boasts that its no-nonsense approach to limiting debate and pushing through legislation has saved Canada from the kind of political paralysis plaguing Europe and the United States.
As the House of Commons shut down Thursday for a six-week Christmas break, Conservatives expressed satisfaction with the “workmanlike, orderly” pace with which its agenda is proceeding through Parliament.
And they dismissed opposition complaints that they’ve abused their long-sought majority to muzzle debate, ram through bills and generally trample democratic processes.
“We went through a democratic process,” countered Peter Van Loan, the government’s House leader, referring to last May’s election.
“The reason Canadians chose to give us a majority is because they wanted to see strong, stable government.”
Van Loan repeatedly contrasted the Conservative government’s ability to take decisive action on its agenda with the political “gridlock” that has stymied governments in the U.S., Greece and elsewhere in Europe.
“At a time like this, when there are massive global economic challenges, where people all around the world are throwing out their governments and questioning the leadership they have, questioning the political classes that are leading them, here in Canada we’re not only an island of strength and stability, we’re an island of political strength and stability,” he said.
“Anybody who suggests that we shouldn’t be making decisions is really inviting the kind of political gridlock that you’ve seen elsewhere and is so harmful economically.”
The opposition, however, argued that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has used his majority to thumb his nose at democracy, using time allocation and closure to cut off debate on bills more often and sooner than any other majority government.
In the first 66 sitting days of Harper’s majority, Liberals have calculated that debate has been cut off nine times, on average after less than four hours of debate. By comparison, the last Liberal majority government from 2001-04 limited debate 10 times in 419 sitting days, on average after eight hours.
“When you see a government that’s now set a record for closure and time allocations, it does not bode well for democracy as a whole,” said Joe Comartin, the NDP’s House leader.
Both the NDP and Liberals ripped the government for signalling that it wants to move more of the business of Commons committees behind closed doors. Van Loan maintained that discussions of what should be on committees’ agendas and who should be called to testify have always been done in camera.
As for limiting debate on bills, Van Loan said only three of the government’s priority bills — the budget implementation bill, legislation to expand the number of seats in the Commons and another to end the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly on marketing western grain — have actually made it through the entire legislative process this fall.
Others, such as the massive, omnibus crime bill and legislation to scrap the long gun registry, will carry over into the winter sitting of Parliament, which is scheduled to resume business on Jan. 30.
“This has been a productive, hard-working, orderly session,” Van Loan said.
He said the government has used time allocation to “manage debate,” ensuring there’s ample discussion on each bill “but also to ensure that we can take decisions.”
Van Loan maintained the government has been focused throughout the fall on economic growth and will be again in the New Year, with a budget to be introduced in February or March.
But opposition parties said the fall has been wasted on peripheral issues, like the gun registry and the controversial crime bill.
“I think their focus was crime,” said Liberal House leader Marc Garneau.
“Yes, they talk about the economy but all they do is quote statistics.”