“I want to stop debate and pass Government Business No. 9 now.”
What they said. What they meant.
Plain-language translations from the House of Commons.
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Government Business No. 9—Changes to the Standing Orders
A motion to change parliamentary rules to give the Liberals a majority on committees after they gained a plurality of seats in a by-election. The Liberals argued this aligns with parliamentary tradition for the majority party to control committees. The Conservatives accused the Liberals of an undemocratic power grab and raised concerns about the Liberals recruiting MP Han Dong who endorsed Avi Lewis, a critic of Israel, in the NDP leadership race. Debate was ended by the Liberals using a closure motion.
“I need to get elected MPs on the record voting for this motion to use in attack ads later. Opposition MPs speaking out on behalf of their constituents raises the alarm on the motion more than I can. Shutting down debate lets me paint the government as undemocratic.”
“My government won more seats, so we should get more power everywhere else too. Precedent says a majority government gets to dominate every part of Parliament. That's the rule we always use.”
“I'm angry the government is using its new majority to limit debate time on their power grab. Canadians didn't vote for this kind of majority! The Liberals are abusing their power to help themselves ram bills through committee. This motion lets the government silence debate and opposition. It's shameful! I demand more debate time so the opposition (my party) can properly criticize the government's record and bills.”
“I don't like your accusation that we stole a majority. Many Canadians agree with our agenda. The government must move quickly to insulate Canada against world events and trade shocks. We are strong and resolute leaders who are there for Canadians and their jobs. The government should keep controlling and directing the economy.”
“I want to help the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons argue that a majority government not controlling committees would be unprecedented. I'm asking him to give an example to show that what we are doing is normal and justified.”
“I want to agree with my friend that our situation is unusual. A government changing status during its mandate is highly unusual. I'm saying we couldn't find any comparable examples. I'm implying that what's happening now is justified because our situation is so unusual.”
“I don't like the other party's motion. It would increase their control over committees. I prefer our amendment. Our amendment would keep committees representative and let them scrutinize the government. I want to imply the government just opposes our amendment because they don't want scrutiny.”
“I want you to ignore that the other party's amendment would actually keep committees representative and let them scrutinize us. I'll just say it offends Westminster tradition and all committees are equal. I'll even praise that their rights and powers are still intact. That should get you off this topic.”
“It sounds good to say a majority in the House means a majority on committees. British tradition says that. But we don't have to just go along. I want to put the government on the spot to defend ramming through a bigger majority on committees than it earned in the House. Does tradition really say 'when you win by a little, take a lot'? I want that on the record.”
“I want to make a big showy speech about our finest traditions. I'm speaking very seriously so everyone knows this is important. If I talk a lot about respecting precedent and upholding our institutions, maybe it will make people forget I'm actually advancing a proposal to change those traditions and precedents so my party gets a bigger majority on committees than we actually won in the House. I'm glossing over that part.”
“I want to paint the Liberals as power-hungry. They tied themselves in knots to recruit an NDP MP who endorsed left-wing radicals so my party could attack them, and they poached an MP who spoke kindly about the trucker convoy protests so we could get outraged about it. So now I want to jump on that bandwagon and lob some talking points about the Liberals having no real principles -- prying open that contradiction to score some points. And I'm going to throw in a gotcha question too about how low the Liberals will go for more votes. It doesn't matter if it's super broad -- my goal here is just to make them squirm.”
“I'm filling time by reeling off some substance-free talking points about how many big problems my party is bravely tackling all at once. The specifics don't actually matter -- I just want the Liberals to come off as serious problem-solvers. And my real message is that any Conservative MP thinking of crossing the floor to our side is welcome. I'm spinning that as us being the positive, can-do team... without saying anything too concrete.”
“I want to look serious so I'm saying some parliamentary jargon about chairs and debate. But my real goal is to get the Liberal House leader to say, plainly and on the record, why he feels this committee change has to be rushed through so urgently.”
“I'm filling time with process words like 'reasonably simple' and 'different perspectives', plus some parliament jargon. The real message is: 'We want committee seats set our way, no more debate, so we can get back to controlling things already.'”
“I'm trying to sound reasonable but I'm really just scoring political points. The other side wants to change the rules to suit themselves. I want to remind everyone that I speak for my riding, not just my party, so I can keep saying no to the government's power grab.”
“I'm filling time with kind words about democracy and tradition. I'm not actually answering whether changing the rules fits those nice words.”
“I want to change the subject to nice things about the Prime Minister instead of talking about the motion we're supposed to be debating.”
“I want you to agree that our traditions and democracy are very, very important. The real traditions and democracy I mean are passing what we want and getting on with our plan.”
“I don't think repeating 'democracy' lets you say voters gave you a majority. Only one in three Canadians think Parliament is doing well. You want a majority on committees even though voters didn't give you that.”