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Parliament prorogued - now what?

Parliament is prorogued – now what?

Justin Trudeau has announced his resignation, which will take effect once the Liberals select a new leader for the party. He has also prorogued Parliament until that can happen.

Prorogation is essentially a reset of Parliament.

As an explainer from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) points out, “prorogation is a type of temporary suspension of parliamentary activities. It is distinct from dissolution, which would trigger an election… Prorogation is more like hitting the reset button on all legislation. All bills that haven’t yet been passed are now dead and would have to start from scratch. Importantly this includes both the spring budget and the fall economic statement, along with all other outstanding house business.”

What happens to active bills?

Prorogation puts key pieces of legislation on hold – and possibly scraps them for good, if a non-confidence vote in the post-prorogation period leads to an election call. “Because any legislation that was partially in progress now needs to start over from scratch, any partially completed items will likely never see the light of day,” the CCPA explainer notes.

Bill C-61, the First Nations Clean Drinking Water Act, which we submitted a brief to Parliament about, is dead. As is the recently announced federal emissions cap of greenhouse gas emissions.

Bill C-64, the Pharmacare Act, passed in October 2024, but its implementation depends on negotiations with the provinces, which are still ongoing. Completing funding deals so that people can start receiving free contraceptives, insulin and other diabetes medications must be a top priority for Health Minister Mark Holland, who is now working on a much shorter timeline. The clock is ticking.

Other Bills of note that have “died on the order paper” – meaning they will have to be tabled again with the Parliamentary process starting over in a new session of parliament – include:

  • C-322, School Food Program bill never moved beyond second reading
  • C-352, Amending the Competition Act and Bureau
  • C-372, “An Act respecting fossil fuel advertising”
  • C-373, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (promotion of hatred or antisemitism)

The government’s proposed increase to the capital gains tax inclusion rate is also now in the dustbin, because it was tabled separately from the last federal budget. This delay will only compound the existing wealth gap and the frustrating reality that Canada’s richest CEOs have already taken home more than the average Canadian salary for the whole year.

What does this mean for the next federal election and beyond?

Trudeau prorogued Parliament until March 24, to give the Liberals time to elect a new party leader, who will also then become Prime Minister.

The opposition parties have all stated that they intend to vote against the government in a non-confidence motion as soon as possible, which would trigger a federal election.

As we’ve seen with federal and provincial Conservative governments recently, if Poilievre’s party wins the next federal election there are at least a few things we can expect:

  • Attempts to repeal legislation that even marginally supports workers, communities, and the climate
  • Austerity cuts and attacks on public services and environmental protections 
  • Attacks on human rights, workers’ rights, Indigenous rights, women’s rights, and 2SLGBTQIA+ rights (Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and/or Questioning, Intersex, and Asexual)
  • Deeper entrenchment of corporate profits and corporate influence over Parliament
  • All of this and more, all at once

For these reasons and more, we need to rapidly build a movement that puts the many before the money. This will be our best collective chance to protect the gains social movements have made in recent years and to prevent as many losses as possible.

Dylan Penner

Dylan Penner

Dylan Penner is a Campaigner at the Council of Canadians

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