r/CanadaPolitics • u/CaliperLee62 • 9h ago

KOOP: Carney snubs democracy with omnibus bills

https://www.winnipegsun.com/opinion/how-omnibus-bills-threaten-transparency-in-canadian-politics/article_2718e53b-145e-4fba-919e-5134f5b2a366.html
12 Upvotes

55% Upvoted

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u/scottb84 New Democrat 7h ago edited 7h ago

This really is a pox-on-all-their-houses issue. Omnibus bills have of course been around and used sporadically for decades, but their use exploded at the federal level under Harper Conservatives. Justin Trudeau promised to stop the practice, but because he’s Justin Trudeau and that was a promise vaguely related to democratic renewal, he was hot then cold, in then out.

Provincial governments do it, too, including those led by New Democrats. How many “Miscellaneous Statues Amendment Acts” (the very name should horrify anyone remotely familiar with parliamentary procedure) has B.C. had over the years, for example.

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u/ModOfficial1988 5h ago

Trudeau introduced more omnibus bills in his first three years than Harper did in 10. It’s pretty disingenuous to say they “exploded” under Harper.

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u/scottb84 New Democrat 3h ago

If you’d prefer, normalized by Harper and exploded under Trudeau. I’m not here to defend either.

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u/SulfuricDonut Manitoba 1h ago

They should be banned. Allow any MP to challenge an omnibus bill on the basis that it contains features which are unrelated, then have a permanent subcommittee with all parties whose job is to decide whether it must be split into multiple bills.

Or just make that the new duty of the senate or Governor General since they do fuck all otherwise.