Discussion · Government Orders
Steven MacKinnon Liberal
“Our situation in Parliament is very unusual because the numbers of seats have changed since the election. We looked for past examples, but there are none. There is also no example of a minority government having a majority of the seats on committees.”
“Mr. Speaker, that is an excellent question. Naturally, good questions always come from the Outaouais. We did a search and looked for examples. We have to admit that the situation before us is highly unusual: a government that changed status during its mandate. The fact that we came within one or two hundred votes of winning a majority in Canada during the last election plays a part in this situation. It should therefore come as no surprise that certain adjustments and electoral events like by-elections have since changed things here in Parliament. I can tell my hon. colleague that we found no comparable examples. At the same time, however, there are no examples of a situation where a government that had a minority in the House held a majority of seats on committees.”
Mr. Speaker, that is an excellent question. Naturally, good questions always come from the Outaouais. We did a search and looked for examples. We have to admit that the situation before us is highly unusual: a government that changed status during its mandate. The fact that we came within one or two hundred votes of winning a majority in Canada during the last election plays a part in this situation. It should therefore come as no surprise that certain adjustments and electoral events like by-elections have since changed things here in Parliament. I can tell my hon. colleague that we found no comparable examples. At the same time, however, there are no examples of a situation where a government that had a minority in the House held a majority of seats on committees.