With opposition parties holding the balance of power, parliamentary committees will become the real testing ground for whether the government can push through its agenda. 

Key Points:

  • No NDP presence on committees means the opposition will control committees if they work together, with the Bloc acting as committee kingmakers.  
  • The opposition will be able to amend legislation as it comes to committees, and the government’s ability to push through an agenda will require spending lots of time, effort, political capital and resources on committees. 
  • Expect more unpredictability in committee outcomes. 

Parliament is back, and it’s going to be a very busy fall. The number of sitting days from the September return to the (scheduled) Christmas break adjournment is currently scheduled for 53 days, with only two break weeks between now and Christmas.

While the uninspiring spectacle of Question Period is usually what ends up on the evening news, the real work at Parliament takes place in committees. They engage in studies, can summon witnesses, and have the authority to order the production of documents. But most importantly, legislation is scrutinized, and legislative amendments can be made within committees.

In a minority parliament with the current composition, this is going to matter. A lot.

Although we have had minority parliaments since 2019, no one should think that the previous parliament will look the same as the current one. The confidence and supply agreement that the Liberals and NDP signed included an explicit declaration that “both Parties commit to a guiding principle of "no surprises." The agreement meant that, in many respects, the last parliament operated (until the NDP withdrew) like a functional majority. The endless brinksmanship that defines minorities largely disappeared.

On committees, “no surprises” meant that “both parties agree to communicate regarding any issues that could impede the government’s ability to function or cause unnecessary obstructions to legislation review, studies, and work plans at committees.” In practice, what this meant was that the NDP would almost always vote with other Liberal members.

Things have changed. The NDP lost official party status, and no longer sit on committees. Now, most standing committees are composed of four Liberals, four Conservatives, and one Bloc member (plus the committee chair). This means that the Bloc holds the balance of power.

If the Bloc works with the Conservatives, they can amend government legislation or completely derail any government bills, causing chaos for the Prime Minister. If the Bloc collaborates with the Liberals, they will be able to extract a high price. The Liberals will likely be able to work with Conservatives on certain bills and studies, but a party that still seeks to form government is not going to give the sitting government easy victories either.

Expect unpredictability from committees. Liberals will have to work bill by bill, motion by motion, with opposition parties to keep things moving. This will, if nothing else, be incredibly time-consuming and exhausting for the Liberal staff whose job it is to shepherd legislation through the process.

If you’re looking to submit evidence, propose legislative changes, or be called as a witness in committees, it will be important to understand these dynamics and recognize that each committee will have a different dynamic depending on the members, legislation or issue involved.

Anyone wanting to influence, appear at, or make submissions to committees should consider how to appeal to opposition parties as well as Liberals. The lack of an NDP presence, plus the rightward shift of the Liberals under Carney, means that much of the debate in committees will be on more centre-right terrain than in the previous parliament. And with the Bloc holding the balance of power, figuring out the Quebec angle and the impacts of legislation and amendments will be crucial.

But the bigger picture is this: committees are an important part of Parliament. The government wants to move quickly and aggressively on many files, and they had some success doing this during the brief spring sitting. But don’t expect that dynamic to continue.

If the opposition parties work together and stonewall the government, don’t be surprised if parliamentary dysfunction becomes a topic of discussion in the media, and perhaps a rationale that gets floated to justify an election sooner rather than later. And if opposition parties don’t want to give the government a rationale for an election in the near and semi-near future, they would be wise to avoid being too obstructive or completely uncooperative on committees.

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