As Conservatives decry end of accountability at committees, NDP MPs say nothing has changed, by neilrmoss cdnpoli (unlocked)
After the supply-and-confidence agreement reached between NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, left, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, NDP MPs Heather McPherson and Jenny Kwan say their role on House committees will not change.The story link will be added automatically.As NDP MPs say their work on House committees will remain uninterrupted by a supply-and-confidence agreement with the government, Conservative MPs worry committees will operate as if the Liberals control a majority Parliament.
NDP MP Heather McPherson , her party’s representative on the Foreign Affairs Committee, said the Liberal-NDP agreement won’t change her party’s position on the unredacted documents, adding that Chong’s motion is still in front of the committee.“I still want to work with the government and work with the opposition to see what we can agree upon to make sure that the information Parliamentarians require is available to Parliamentarians so that they can do their job,” she said.
“We all have to work together. We all have to find a way that is collaborative. That meets the needs of the government and the security concerns that they’ve shown, but also gives Parliamentarians that ability to do their job,” she said. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says the supply-and-confidence agreement doesn’t change his caucus’ ability to be an opposition party.NDP MP Jenny Kwan , her party’s representative on the Immigration and Citizenship Committee and the Special Committee on Afghanistan, echoed McPherson.
In announcing the agreement on March 22, the Liberals said both parties agreed to be in contact regarding any issues which “could impede the government’s ability to function or cause unnecessary obstructions to legislation review, studies and work plans at committees,” but noted that both parties are committed to parliamentary scrutiny.
Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu , who sits on the House Human Resources, Skills, and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities Committee and the House Science and Research Committee, said Parliamentarians have lost some capacity to hold the government to account. “They have promised not only to support the government, but to relay information to the government on anything that would impact them. So they are essentially spies in the camp. They will side with the government at all times,” she said. “Essentially what you have is a Liberal majority government.”
For the committees he sits on, Cooper said he doesn’t foresee the Liberal-NDP agreement will have much of an impact due to the ideological difference between the NDP and Conservatives on justice matters. But he noted that could change, such as the work done by the Justice Committee during the SNC-Lavalin affair, when he said the Conservatives worked “very closely” with the NDP.
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