Discussion · Government Orders
Heather McPherson NDP
“The government is rushing this huge bill through without enough time for us to debate it. Governments use giant bills like this to hide bad laws from scrutiny. The Conservatives did the exact same thing when they were in power, but they are right that this is a bad way to make laws.”
“Mr. Speaker, to be honest, the Prime Minister has shown a shocking dismissal of Parliament and a dismissal of the value of Parliament to debate bills and bring them forward. This is an omnibus bill. One thing I will say to the member is that the champion of omnibus bills was Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party. I would also say that I think his party’s members were falling over themselves to support another massive piece of legislation, Bill C-5, which took away indigenous and environmental rights in this country. However, the member is right. This is not the way we are supposed to bring legislation forward. It does not give us adequate time to debate it. Omnibus bills are always a way for governments to bring forward bad legislation that they do not want to have scrutinized. Even the media got a 250-page bill half an hour before they were meant to discuss it. This is not good legislation.”
Mr. Speaker, to be honest, the Prime Minister has shown a shocking dismissal of Parliament and a dismissal of the value of Parliament to debate bills and bring them forward. This is an omnibus bill. One thing I will say to the member is that the champion of omnibus bills was Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party. I would also say that I think his party’s members were falling over themselves to support another massive piece of legislation, Bill C-5, which took away indigenous and environmental rights in this country. However, the member is right. This is not the way we are supposed to bring legislation forward. It does not give us adequate time to debate it. Omnibus bills are always a way for governments to bring forward bad legislation that they do not want to have scrutinized. Even the media got a 250-page bill half an hour before they were meant to discuss it. This is not good legislation.