Canada's Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer, seen here on April 20, 2020 insisted that MPs meet physically more than once a week, which the Liberals rejected as unsafe.BLAIR GABLE/Reuters
As Liberal House Leader Pablo Rodriguez droned through the interminable paragraphs of a motion that will see Parliament return on a limited and partly virtual basis, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer looked on with undisguised contempt.
The Conservatives had scored a significant victory over the Liberals, forcing the government to restore regular sittings of Parliament. But Mr. Scheer insisted that MPs meet physically more than once a week, which the Liberals rejected as unsafe.
Instead, all the other parties coalesced around an NDP compromise that will have the House meet in person with a small cohort of MPs once a week, plus twice a week virtually.
With the Tories opposed to the compromise, and with the new measures requiring approval in any case, the House had to meet Monday.
So here we all were, about three dozen MPs, plus officers of the House, support staff and security, with a couple of journalists looking on, and with everyone trying to maintain physical distance – succeeding most but not all of the time – while Mr. Rodriguez presented the compromise jointly agreed to by the Liberals, Bloc Québécois and NDP, leaving the Conservatives isolated and defiant.
“It is annoying that we are accused of being the bad guys,” Conservative MP Joel Godin fumed during the debate. “It’s entirely false."
Down the road, some may remember that it was Conservatives who led the effort to restore the operations of Parliamentary government. But others will remember how the Tories navigated themselves into the position of being offside with every other party over how the House returned – satisfying, perhaps, for partisans; embarrassing to everyone else.
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All opposition parties struggle to find a meaningful role in a time of crisis. But the situation is especially dire for the federal Conservatives.
Mr. Scheer is supposed to be serving his final weeks as leader, having been forced out by an internal party rebellion. But the leadership campaign to replace him was suspended in March, after the coronavirus crisis made it impossible for candidates to campaign.
Peter MacKay, once a senior minister in Stephen Harper’s government, is the presumed front-runner. But he has no seat in Parliament and little prospect of obtaining one in the current circumstances.
His principal challenger, Durham MP Erin O’Toole, at least has a seat in the House, but is thought to be well behind Mr. MacKay in fundraising and in support among party members.
So Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition lacks focused leadership at a crucial time in the life of the nation.
In recent weeks, Conservative and other opposition MPs have proven why they are needed over and over again. They uncovered wording in one piece of emergency legislation that would have granted this minority government virtually untrammelled power. The Liberals blushed and withdrew the offending clause. Opposition MPs also suggested amendments to the most recent measures that the government accepted.
And now, the opposition sans Conservatives has worked out a reasonable compromise with the Liberals to keep the House up and running during the pandemic. There will no doubt be stumbles as Parliament tries to figure out how virtual meetings work. But things will get better every week, and as restrictions ease, the House and the Senate will meet more often in person.
In the meantime, the arguments against virtual sittings – mostly that they would disadvantage MPs from rural areas with poor connectivity – seem forced. Many MPs are far from Ottawa and unable to sit in the House. A combination of actual and virtual sessions makes sense.
When all was said and done, it was valuable to have the House back on Monday, with opposition MPs holding the government to account over the acquisition of medical equipment and on Canada’s relations with China, among other issues. With only a smattering of members present, things were remarkably civil.
And it meant that party leaders could mourn the victims of the horrific shooting in Nova Scotia, another essential role of Parliament.
Once it can be done safely and effectively, the Conservatives need to resume their leadership contest. The duty of the Official Opposition is to offer voters an alternative to the current government. The Tories are in no shape right now to offer that alternative. The sooner the new leader is in place, the better for the House and for democracy in Canada.
Now that it is recommended you wear a face covering in dense public settings like grocery stores and pharmacies, watch how to make the three masks recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Written instructions available at tgam.ca/masks
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