At long last, the time for “real change” had apparently arrived.<\/p>\n
Three months after the government released a\u00a0“discussion paper<\/a>”\u00a0on parliamentary reform\u00a0\u2014 after the Liberals were accused of tyrannical intent, \u200bafter the opposition flibustered<\/a>, after\u00a0the government\u00a0finally backed down a bit<\/a>, and after the Conservatives\u00a0threatened\u00a0to tie up the Commons anew\u00a0\u2014 Government House leader Bardish Chagger\u00a0was ready to move forward.<\/p>\n “In recent days, I have been pleased by the constructive dialogue I have had with my Conservative and NDP counterparts on this issue,” Chagger said last week. “Now, Canadians expect us to act.”<\/p>\n The New Democrats promptly announced they were still opposed to the government’s plans<\/a>. After a weekend to think about it,\u00a0Conservatives decided they were too.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, the opposition parties seem willing to let the government make a few changes still on offer.<\/p>\n So better\u00a0\u2014 or at least different\u00a0\u2014 is apparently still possible.<\/p>\n But nearing the halfway mark of the Liberals’ majority mandate, change is proving to be messy.<\/p>\n How one measures the real-ness of it all may vary.<\/p>\n Liberals to move ahead with Parliamentary reform<\/strong>8:07<\/p>\n The Liberals’ changes to the standing orders \u2014 the rules that govern the proceedings of the House \u2014 are both useful and imperfect.<\/p>\n A new rule to curb the use of omnibus bills\u00a0might prevent particularly egregious legislation from slipping through, but an exception for budget bills will still give governments significant leeway.<\/p>\n Governments will be required to explain their use of prorogation, but the Liberals won’t apply any statutory barrier to proroguing\u00a0Parliament. (In 2010, Liberal MPs voted in favour of a non-binding motion<\/a> calling on the government to prorogue only with the support of the House.)<\/p>\n A weekly session of question period devoted to the prime minister will continue by convention, at least so long as Justin Trudeau remains prime minister. But unwritten rules that provide a scant 35 seconds for each question and response and allow party whips to dictate who gets to ask a question will seemingly remain in place.<\/p>\n But adoption of the changes will tick a few campaign commitments off the government’s to-do list.<\/p>\n Mulcair asks Trudeau why he’s changing the house rules after abandoning electoral reform<\/strong>1:22<\/p>\n Commitments to political reform were integral to the Liberal campaign promise of “real change<\/a>.”<\/p>\n The results, so far, could best be described as mixed.<\/p>\n Most spectacularly, the Liberal cabinet walked away<\/a> from the promise of electoral reform after a long process<\/a> of vaguely considering the possibilities. (In this case, the mistake might have been making an open-ended commitment to reform in the first place.)<\/p>\n But of the dozens of other things that might be done, the Liberals are at least getting to some of them.<\/p>\n As promised, a special\u00a0committee to\u00a0review\u00a0national security operations<\/a>\u00a0will be created. But there are lingering concerns about the\u00a0committee’s access to government information.<\/p>\n An initial proposal to strengthen the parliamentary budget officer was\u00a0loudly panned<\/a>, but the Liberals then rewrote their legislation to address some of the criticism.<\/p>\n That weekly prime minister’s question period is a potentially significant new invention, but Trudeau’s willingness to stand is not always matched by a willingness to respond to the questions asked<\/a>.<\/p>\n Trudeau has refrained from appointing bagmen and cronies to the Senate, and the upper chamber has displayed a friskiness it has lacked in recent years, though that has ultimately made life more difficult<\/a> for the government. (And sent the Senate’s critics into a tizzy.)<\/p>\n On an ad hoc basis,\u00a0Trudeau has been out amongst the public<\/a>, taking questions and periodically being challenged. And the Liberal\u00a0backbench\u00a0has\u00a0shown signs of life<\/a>. With decorum in mind, the Liberals have stopped applauding each other<\/a> during QP.\u00a0<\/p>\nSmall changes to the way the House works<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
The promise and reality of reform<\/h2>\n