Conservatives shut down debate for the 100th time

Stephen Harper’s Conservatives have once again lowered the bar on accountability. They have stifled democracy by shutting down debate for a record 100th time – all to evade the scrutiny of Canadians and the opposition.

“Like the Liberals before them, the Conservatives are using heavy-handed tactics to ram through flawed legislation,” said NDP House leader Peter Julian (Burnaby – New Westminster). “They know that their budget bill fails to address the priorities and needs of middle-class Canadians, so they are ending debate. But while they are afraid of answering to Canadians, the NDP is ready to help with practical proposals.”

The Harper Conservatives have shut down democratic debate more than any other government in Canadian history. Conservatives have denied Parliament the right to fully debate nearly 60 pieces of legislation, containing over 11,000 pages. Amongst these thousands of pages are hastily passed laws that have been rejected by the courts, only to be brought back to Parliament and rammed through the House once again.

“Stephen Harper once railed against closure and other parliamentary tricks designed to shut down public debate,” said Julian. “But that was way back when Conservatives like Harper talked about reforming Parliament, not shutting it down. Canadians deserve better.”