The prorogation of Parliament means that all legislation
that had been tabled is scrapped and the new session of Parliament
starts with a blank slate, the first procedure being the reading of a
Speech from the Throne on March 3, the third since Harper came to power
in January 2006. It means that all Parliamentary
and Senate Committees are newly constituted and the business being
dealt with in the previous session's committees is ended.
However, according to the rules of Parliament, a motion
for the production of papers by the government in the Afghan detainee
case remains standing at prorogation and members of Harper's Cabinet
could be found in contempt of Parliament when it is convoked if they
continue to refuse to comply with the motion
passed on December 10. In any case, the Harper Conservative Government
is already clearly in contempt of Parliament, all but calling those
members who want to establish the facts about the Afghan detainees
traitors and enemies of the state, insisting that there is no way that
sensitive material could be entrusted
in the hands of anyone but the Privy Council. Further they have
contemptuously declared that Canada's role in the subjection of Afghan
detainees to torture is "not on the radar" for the Canadian people.
Given the motion ordering the Harper Government to
produce the required documents in uncensored form, given that this
motion is not quashed through prorogation, and given the continuing
refusal of the Harper Government to produce the documents any MP can
raise a question of privilege charging the responsible
minister with contempt of the House as soon as the next session begins.
Since the Harper government has developed a penchant for deferring
political matters to the courts in order to justify acting with
impunity (to the extent that it ignores the court decisions when it
pleases, as in the Omar Kadr case, amongst others),
and has also established a pattern of challenging and undermining
independent bodies of Parliament, this matter is likely to be sorted
out in the courts, marking a further undermining of the role of
Parliament in the governing of the country.
Speaking in an interview on Business News Network on
January 11, Harper said "I think we're the most, longest uninterrupted
constitutional system in the world. I think the games begin when
Parliament returns and the government can take time now to do the
important work to prepare the economic agenda
ahead." The "games" to which Harper was referring is not the Olympics
but the proceedings of Parliament. According to Harper, Parliament is
nothing and the only matter of import for his cabinet is to rule on
behalf of the monopolies with impunity so as to restore Canada to the
path of rightheousness.
The following is the status of business of the 40th
Parliament at the time of prorogation on December 30, 2009:
House of Commons
C-6 Safety of Consumer Products Bill (concurrence of
Senate amendments)
C-8 Family Homes on Reserves and Matrimonial Interests
or Rights Bill (second reading)
S-8 Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of
Fiscal Evasion on Income Taxes between Canada and Colombia, Greece and
Turkey Bill (second reading)
C-13 Canada Grain Act Amendments Bill (second reading)
C-15 Serious Drug Offences Bill (concurrence of Senate
amendments)
C-19 Investigative Hearing and Recognizance With
Conditions Bill (second reading)
C-20 Civil Liability and Compensation for Nuclear
Damage (report)
C-23 Columbia-Canada Free Trade Agreement (second
reading)
C-30 Senate Ethics Bill (second reading)
C-31 Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Bill
(committee)
C-34 Protecting Victims From Sex Offenders (report)
C-35 Deterring Terrorism and State Immunity Bill
(second reading)
C-37 An Action Plan for the National Capital Commission
Bill (committee)
C-40 Advance Polling Days Bill (second reading)
C-42 Ending Conditional Sentences for Property and
Other Serious Crimes (committee)
C-43 Corrections and Conditional Release Bill
(committee)
C-44 Canada Post Corporation Bill (second reading)
C-45 Foreign Nationals Working in Canada (second
reading)
C-46 Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill
(committee)
C-47 Regulating Telecommunications Facilities to
Support Investigations Bill (committee)
C-52 Sentencing for Fraud Bill (committee)
C-53 Accelerated Parole Review Bill (second reading)
C-54 Parole Inadmissibility Period for Offenders
Convicted of Multiple Murders Bill (second reading)
C-55 Drug and Alcohol Relate Probation Compliance Bill
(second reading)
C-57 Canada-Jordan Free Trade Agreement Bill (second
reading)
C-58 Mandatory Reporting of Internet Child Pornography
Bill (second reading)
C-59 Amending the International Transfer of Offenders
Act (second reading)
C-60 Canada-U.S. Integrated Cross-Border Maritime Law
Enforcement Operations Bill (second reading)
C-61 Back to Work For Railway Operations Bill (second
reading)
C-63 First Nations Commercial and Industrial
Development Act (second reading)
Senate
S-5 Long-Gun Registry Repeal Bill (second reading)
S-6 Accountability With Respect to Political Loans
(second reading)
S-7 Senate Term Limits Bill (second reading)
C-26 Auto Theft and Trafficking in Property Obtained by
Crime (second reading)
C-27 Antispam Bill (committee)
C-36 Early Parole Bill (second reading)
Adopted/Royal Assent
C-2 Canada-European Union Free Trade Bill
S-2 Customs Bill
S-3 Energy Efficiency Bill
C-3 Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Bill
C-4 Not-for-profit Corporations Bill
S-4 Identity Theft Bill
C-5 Indian Oil and Gas Bill
C-7 Marine Liability Amendments Bill
C-9 Transportation of Dangerous Goods Bill
C-10 Budget Implementation Bill
C-11 Human Pathogens and Toxins Safety Bill
C-12 2008-2009 Supplementary Estimates (B)
Implementation Bill
C-14 Organized Crime and Protection of Justice System
Participants
C-16 Environmental Enforcement Bill
C-17 Beechwood Cemetery Bill
C-18 Amendments to RCMP Superannuation Bill
C-21 2008-2009 Supplementary Estimates (C)
Implementation Bill
C-22 2009-2010 Main Estimates Implementation Bill
C-24 Peru-Canada Free Trade Agreement
C-25 Limiting Credit for Time Spent in Pre-sentencing
Custody Bill
C-28 Cree-Naskapi (of Quebec) Bill
C-29 Availability of Agricultural Loans Bill
C-32 Flavoured Tobacco Bill
C-38 Nahanni National Park Reserve Bill
C-33 War Veterans Allowance Bill
C-39 Amending the Judges Act Bill
C-41 Maanulth First Nations Final Agreement Bill
C-48 2009-2010 Main Estimates Bill
C-49 2009-2010 Supplementary Estimates Bill
C-50 Employment Insurance Benefit Increases Bill
C-51 Second Budget Implementation Bill
C-56 Funding EI Changes Bill
C-62 An Act to amend the Excise Tax Act
C-64 2009-2010 Supplementary Estimates Bill
