PARLIAMENTARY REPORT
CANADA NEW GOVERNMENT SWORN IN
Government sworn in On 4 November 2015, Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau MP, Canada’s 23rd
Prime Minister,
was sworn in, along with his 30-member cabinet. The cabinet was smaller than the previous one, which had 39 members—26 ministers and 13 ministers of state For the first time ever, there are an equal number of women and men in cabinet. The cabinet also includes 18 first-time MPs, some of whom were appointed to key portfolios for example, Hon. William Morneau MP, a business leader, became Minster of Finance; Hon. Jody Wilson-Raybould MP, a lawyer and First Nations leader, was named Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada; Hon. Catherine McKenna MP, a lawyer with extensive international experience, was appointed Minister of Environment and Climate Change; and Hon. Harjit Singh Sajjan MP, a retired lieutenant-colonel, became Minister of National Defence.
At the same time, a
number of former ministers were named to cabinet, including: Hon. Ralph Goodale MP (Minister of
Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness), Hon. Lawrence MacAulay MP (Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food); Hon. Stéphane Dion MP, (Minister of Foreign Affairs); Hon. John McCallum MP, (Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship); and Hon. Carolyn Bennett MP, (Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs).
Interim Conservative Leader
On 5 November, the Conservative Party caucus chose Hon. Rona Ambrose MP, as interim leader. First elected in 2004, Ms. Ambrose held a number of cabinet portfolios, including the environment, intergovernmental affairs and health.
The Conservative Party created a committee to organize and set rules for the leadership race. In January, the committee decided the leadership election would be held on 27 May 2017.
Opening of Parliament Canada’s 42nd
Parliament
was opened on 3 December. At the outset, Liberal Senator Hon. George Furey was appointed Speaker of the Senate to replace Conservative Senator Hon. Leo Housakos.
Rt. Hon Justin Trudeau, MP Prime Minister of Canada
In the House of Commons, the Speaker was elected by preferential ballot for the first time. MPs ranked their choices among the four candidates by order of preference. If no candidate received a majority, the one with the fewest first preferences was eliminated; the second preferences were then re-allocated until one
72 | The Parliamentarian | 2016: Issue One
candidate achieved a majority of the vote.
The process resulted in the election as Speaker of Hon. Geoff Regan MP, who represents Halifax West, Nova Scotia. He was first elected to the House of Commons in 2000. On 4 December, Governor-
General His Excellency Rt. Hon. David Johnston read the Speech from the Throne. The Speech emphasized the government’s
commitment to growth for the middle classes, open and transparent government, a clean environment, a strong economy, strength in diversity and greater security. Following the opening, Parliament sat for a week. The government introduced legislation to amend the Income Tax Act by reducing the tax rate for the middle- class and increasing it for the wealthy. Parliament also adopted a bill granting money for the federal public administration.
Committees of the House of Commons were not established before Parliament adjourned for the Christmas break. The government tried to establish the Finance Committee so that it could conduct pre-budget consultations during the break, but did not receive the necessary unanimous consent. The House did agree, however, to set up a Special Joint Committee of the Senate and the House of Commons to examine the Supreme Court’s ruling on physician-assisted suicide. In February 2015, the Court struck down the laws prohibiting assisted suicide in certain circumstances and gave Parliament one year to enact new legislation. The
government asked the Court for a six-month extension, but in January 2016, the Court granted a four-month extension.
Parliament resumed sitting in late January, and on 3 February, the House of Commons adopted a New Democratic Party (NDP) motion on pay equity. Among its provisions was the establishment of a special committee to “conduct hearings on the matter of pay equity and to propose a plan to adopt a proactive federal pay equity regime.” In terms of legislation, the government introduced a couple of bills that would revoke changes the previous government had made regarding collective bargaining with public service unions.
Effect of the Reform Act, 2014
Under the Reform Act, 2014, when party caucuses held their first meetings following the general election, they had to decide whether to give caucus members the power to trigger a vote on holding a leadership review, electing and reviewing the caucus chair, expelling or readmitting a caucus member, or electing an interim leader. The Conservative Party caucus decided against allowing caucus members to trigger a vote on holding a leadership review. The caucus did vote to give caucus members the power to elect the caucus chair and to expel or readmit a caucus member.
The Liberal Party caucus decided to refer the issue to its next biannual convention. The NDP caucus deferred the issue to a future caucus meeting.
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