OTTAWA – A motion was adopted in the House of Commons today to set a time limit on the debate of Bill C-18 to move it past the second reading stage.
If this sounds familiar it is because earlier this month, a motion was adopted to limit the time spent on second reading debate for Bill C-11. When the motion was passed for C-11, the bill had been debated in the House four times, whereas C-18 has been debated once.
Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez (above) argued this motion was needed because they have already seen the Conservatives stall C-11.
“What the Conservatives have been doing is trying to jam this place, which is very sad,” the minister said today.
“We’d love the Conservatives to be a little bit more respectful of the whole process because we’ve seen them, what they did on Bill C-11 and others,” he said. “So, now it’s time to work for democracy, not against democracy because a strong, free and independent press reinforces that democracy and this is exactly what C-18 is all about.”
The Conservatives unsurprisingly opposed the motion but were not alone in their criticism of it as Green Party MPs including Elizabeth May spoke up in opposition to it.
“This moment that we have now is not debating the substance of C-18, I look forward to an opportunity to debate that, but I will not get that opportunity because time allocation is being used again. I have to say that on principle, I object to it,” she said, adding that “this is not acceptable.”
She said she has been convinced there was a case for it possibly once before, and argued that “today, on C-18, there is no case for it.”
Image screen captured from ParlVU’s stream of the House of Commons proceedings today.
