Parliament adjourns two days early for summer amid growing talk of cabinet shuffle

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Members of Parliament wrapped up the current House of Commons sitting two days early, kicking off a summer recess that is increasingly expected to include a federal cabinet shuffle.

The House of Commons unanimously approved a motion from Government House Leader Mark Holland Wednesday to adopt a handful of bills and government spending items by the end of the day. MPs later approved a motion to adjourn for summer at the end of the day.

Over the past few weeks, the Liberals have shut down debate on several government bills through procedural motions supported by the NDP. That has included debate on the budget bill, as well as Senate amendments related to C-18, the Online News Bill, which has been sent to the Senate for final approval.

The Senate normally sits for a day or two after the House has adjourned.

In a late afternoon news conference, Mr. Holland said the government has managed to pass virtually all of its priority bills during the final stretch of the sitting.

While committees can still meet during the summer, he urged MPs of all parties to take a break from Ottawa.

“It’s really important that members of Parliament get to spend time in their constituencies and talking to Canadians. This place is a bubble. We’ve been in it for an extremely long period of time,” he said.

After months of controversy over questions related to the government’s handling of foreign election interference and criticism of Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino’s performance, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is widely expected to shuffle his cabinet in the coming weeks.

Speculation about who will be promoted and who will be demoted is rampant on Parliament Hill.

Two senior sources said they expect the shuffle to come this summer, and Mr. Mendicino’s future in the inner circle is in question. Both sources said the issues date back more than a year, including misrepresenting what police advised on the use of the Emergencies Act and the government’s climbdown on its planned assault-style weapons ban.

The Globe is not identifying the two sources as they were not authorized to comment publicly about private discussions.

How large the shuffle will be is unclear. One source said the government is looking at which ministers plan to run again because the Liberals want to craft their senior team that will lead them into the next campaign.

When asked on Wednesday if he was ready to accept a different job if he gets shuffled, Mr. Mendicino told reporters that “everyone works at the pleasure of the Prime Minister, that’s the definition of the job.”

Mr. Trudeau told reporters Wednesday that the government hopes to come to a consensus with opposition parties, who are seeking a public inquiry into the foreign-interference controversy.

“We are very much looking to work collaboratively with the other parties but there has to be clarity around the fact that they’re all committed and in agreement with the process we move forward on,” he said.

The government and the opposition parties have been in discussions about the issue and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc had promised to provide an update this week. Mr. LeBlanc is scheduled to meet with opposition party leaders on Thursday.

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said Wednesday that his discussions with Mr. LeBlanc about a public inquiry have been “very encouraging,” but no final agreement has been reached. Mr. Blanchet suggested an announcement could be coming within the next few days.

The Conservative Party’s final opposition day, in which it can propose a motion for debate and a vote, was moved up from Thursday to Wednesday evening. The Conservatives put forward a motion calling on the government to table a plan for balancing the budget.

Opposition days – also known as “supply” days – are tied to the estimates process in which MPs approve government spending. Such votes must take place before the recess so that federal departments receive their operational funding.

The government motion approved by the House Wednesday meant that MPs gave final approval to C-9, sending it to the Senate. That bill updates the Judges Act to replace the process in which the Canadian Judicial Council reviews the conduct of federally appointed judges.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Wagner recently told reporters the update is needed, pointing to the current slow and opaque process that applied to dealing with allegations against former justice Russell Brown.