The federal Liberals accepted a Conservative proposal Monday to put guardrails around proposed new cabinet powers as they debated the government’s omnibus budget bill.
The Liberal government’s budget implementation legislation, Bill C-15, proposes to give federal ministers the ability to temporarily exempt individuals or corporations from some non-criminal federal laws — an approach the government refers to as “regulatory sandboxes.”
Some members of Parliament have expressed discomfort with the idea of granting such sweeping powers to cabinet in the interest of boosting competitive or economic forces.
Both interim NDP leader Don Davies and Green Leader Elizabeth May appeared at Monday’s finance committee meeting, where MPs were going clause by clause through the legislation.
Davies said such a ministerial override would present a “serious threat to Canada’s democratic foundations.”
“Shame on you,” May said after committee members did not adopt her own amendment to restrict the application of regulatory sandboxes.
Conservative MP and committee member Sandra Cobena said she was concerned about the “immense concentration of power” implied in the proposal. She introduced amendments that she said would “meet the urgency of the moment” while balancing democratic standards.
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The successful amendments, backed by Liberal members of the committee, included a requirement for ministers to consult with Canadians before ordering any legal exemptions, and to report back to Parliament.
Cobena’s amendments would also require the approval of both a cabinet minister and the president of the Treasury Board before an individual or corporation is shielded from a law. They also would clearly state that certain laws — including the Conflict of Interest Act and the Access to Information Act — cannot be overridden
“The government has heard opposition concerns … and we are willing to support the guardrails suggested by these CPC amendments,” said Liberal MP and committee member Carlos Leitao.
MPs still had hundreds of clauses ahead of them before they broke for question period Monday afternoon.
The finance committee is on a tight timeline with the omnibus budget bill. Members of the finance committee were scheduled to meet for up to 12 hours in Ottawa on Monday to go clause by clause through Bill C-15.
Liberal MP Karina Gould, the committee chair, said she booked the lengthy meeting so House of Commons resources would be available to MPs late into the evening as they tackle more than 600 clauses in the bill.
MPs agreed earlier this month to a motion seeking to fast-track the bill through the committee and report stages of debate.
That motion said Bill C-15 must be considered at finance committee by Monday, which must report back to the House by Wednesday. It’s not yet clear when the final vote on the bill will take place.
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