The House of Commons could rise as early as Thursday for the winter break — without the Liberals passing their lengthy budget implementation bill.
The House calendar officially has MPs in their seats until Friday but they could agree to break for Christmas before the end of the day. They are scheduled to return to the House on January 26.
House Leader Steven MacKinnon said Wednesday his government has "accomplished an incredible amount" during the fall sitting, pointing to budget and crime bills which have yet to become law.
It's the first full sitting since Prime Minister Mark Carney took office in the spring, after which MPs passed legislation that aims to make it easier to get major projects built in the country and remove interprovincial trade barriers.
Asked Wednesday how he thought this sitting of Parliament has been functioning, Carney noted his government doesn't have a majority of seats, but said things are "functioning well," pointing to the major projects bill which passed in June.
He said Canadians "rightly" expect the government to make more progress and that he wants to get outstanding crime legislation passed as quickly as possible.
Bill C-14, introduced in October, would impose stricter bail rules for repeat and violent offenders, while Bill C-16, introduced earlier this week, restores mandatory minimum sentences previously struck down by the courts as well as introduces new measures to address hateful and controlling behaviour toward women and shield children from online predators.
The government also has yet to pass a revised version of a border bill which introduces new measures to help the Canada Border Services Agency tackle drug and gun smuggling and auto theft, as well as controversial changes to Canada's refugee and asylum seeker regimes.
On Tuesday, NDP MPs Leah Gazan and Jenny Kwan joined with refugee and human rights advocates to implore the government not to pass the legislation, calling it an attack on vulnerable people that will do little to make our borders safer but will "propel racist and discriminatory attitudes."
Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer accused the Liberals of delaying the passing of their own legislative agenda and failing to work with other parties to tackle affordability concerns.
"For the past few weeks and months, we've seen all kinds of procedural tricks and games that liberals have played that has had the effect of holding up their own agenda,' Scheer said. "It might be that after ten years of government, they are still not very good at governing."
MacKinnon earlier accused the Conservatives of being the barrier to getting legislation passed, including bill C-4, which would legislatively end the consumer carbon price, something Carney did through regulation as his first action after becoming prime minister in March.
"I think there’s .... some examples that can be pretty clearly demonstrated — that we’re not talking about debating the principle of the bill but rather talking it out so that the government can’t move a legislative priority forward," MacKinnon said.
The Liberal budget itself passed in November, as the government survived a confidence vote with the backing of Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and the abstentions of two NDP and two Conservative MPs.
The bill to implement parts of that budget passed second reading on Wednesday, and will head to committee for study in the new year.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
