EDITORIAL: After five months off, Trudeau rushes Parliament

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Parliament hasn’t been in session for five full months. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau could have called it back sooner.

Many have called on him to do so. We did so in editorials in this very space.

Yet now that Parliament has just restarted, as of Monday, things are apparently rush, rush, rush.

As Canadian Press reports: “Government House leader Mark Holland said a bill to approve billions in new aid for businesses still hurting from COVID-19 is one of four pieces of legislation the Liberals want passed by the middle of next month.”

The story continues: “Holland said he expects the bills to pass on the aggressive timeline while warning the government won’t tolerate any political shenanigans to stall the legislative agenda.”

Excuse us? Where did this aggressive timeline come from all of a sudden?

Parliamentarians are tasked with effectively scrutinizing legislation. Opposition politicians are tasked with constructively opposing aspects of legislation in the House of Commons and in Committees with a view to improving it.

This is especially important during a pandemic. The only politician shenanigans that appear to be on the horizon are the Liberals showing disdain for the orderly and proper functioning of Parliament.

“The legislative agenda promises to be packed, with the Liberals having pledged in their election platform to introduce or reintroduce at least eight bills in the first 100 days of their third mandate. The Commons is scheduled to sit only 24 days before the 100-day clock runs out on Feb. 3,” Canadian Press adds.

By all means, the Liberals are entitled to introduce their election platform promises. Sure, they lose the popular vote. Sure, they’ve only got a minority government. They’re still the government though.

But they are not entitled to having an attitude that would see them more prone to running roughshod over democratic processes.

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Instead of starting this session with this mindset, maybe they should approach it with a conciliatory one. Trudeau ought to recognize that he is in a minority situation and that he failed to secure the majority he sought in the election.

He needs to reach out to the opposition and cool down his hyper-partisan conduct.