Budget passes in HoC without a 3rd reading

[Peckerwood]

Considering that there was to be a third reading and a third debate on the Budget in the House of Commons; but as I was watching CPAC, they instead said that because the first speaker didn't show up for her announcements(Diane Ablonczy) then the budget was passed by proxy(equal to unanimous consent)

Now Ms Ablonczy was late by but a few minutes, and this tardiness was to account for the unanimous passing by proxy of the budget...does anyone else see this as an odd practice in accordance to the House of Commons traditions?

Your thoughts on the matter:

[xKagex]

My thoughts:

WHAT IN THE H*LL ARE THE OPPOSITION PARTIES DOING??

[d_jedi]

Wait.. so a Conservative MP doesn't show up.. and so the Conservative party's budget is automatically passed? That doesn't seem right to me..

[gorf]

My thoughts:

WHAT IN THE H*LL ARE THE OPPOSITION PARTIES DOING??

The two opposing parties to the budget were caught with their pants down around their ankles. They weren't paying attention to the speaker.

Diana was only a few minutes late.

[Cough]

A spokeswoman for government House leader Rob Nicholson said the two parties that had opposed the budget -- the Liberals and New Democrats -- did not put up anybody to debate the budget in Parliament on Tuesday morning.

"It's deemed adopted," the spokeswoman, Genevieve Breton, said.

Blame your stupid opposition parties :D

[Peckerwood]

Wait.. so a Conservative MP doesn't show up.. and so the Conservative party's budget is automatically passed? That doesn't seem right to me..
That is exactly what I was thinking.

I dislike this practice, although I can see it's merits in a time of Commons restrictions on access due to community work efforts where many members cannot show up for debates etc...so therefore it seems to be a policy of expediency.

[dark169]

Considering that there was to be a third reading and a third debate on the Budget in the House of Commons; but as I was watching CPAC, they instead said that because the first speaker didn't show up for her announcements(Diane Ablonczy) then the budget was passed by proxy(equal to unanimous consent)

Now Ms Ablonczy was late by but a few minutes, and this tardiness was to account for the unanimous passing by proxy of the budget...does anyone else see this as an odd practice in accordance to the House of Commons traditions?

Your thoughts on the matter:

hold the phone... let me get this straight, someone watches CPAC? :lol:

perhaps we need an expert on the HoC rules and procedures to figure out what really happened, of course I'm sure theres a few phd's in the feild out there who don't even know it all

[gorf]

Not much on it yet that I can find.

Broadcast News
Published: Tuesday, June 06, 2006

OTTAWA -- The House of Commons has passed the Harper government's first budget faster than expected.

The passage surprised everyone - including the governing Conservatives - as it was approved by unanimous consent when no one rose in the Commons earlier Tuesday to debate the bill.

The legislation now goes to the Senate, where it is also expected to pass.

The budget contains a number of tax measures, including a cut in the Goods and Services Tax to six per cent from seven per cent, effective July 1.

It also includes gradual cuts to corporate tax rates.

© Broadcast News 2006

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=cd78a940-291f-43d0-9100-00e1b300530c&k=11010

[Shaner]

I have to admit I'm not familiar with all of the rules/policies/procedures of the House, but if the Liberals and NDP didn't bother to debate or challenge it, I see no reason why it shouldn't be passed in record time.

If they are opposed to it, why the hell didn't they stand up and say something?

[sparkplug]

With an official unanimous approval due to no opposition, would that imply this budget will go on record as having all four parties in favour of it? That could weaken the oppositions' debating abilities in the near future.

[dark169]

With an official unanimous approval due to no opposition, would that imply this budget will go on record as having all four parties in favour of it? That could weaken the oppositions' debating abilities in the near future.

Exactly it basically shows that the opposition didn't feel the need to debate the conservative budget, they didn't stand up to point out and flaws, problems or disagreements. I dont think you can say they agree with it but it will hard for them to say they fought the budget or really disagreed with it.

[Peckerwood]

If they didn't bother to engage in debate then it would seem that the Opposition parties were Humping the Procedural Pooch so to speak.

[Spare-Flair]

Considering that there was to be a third reading and a third debate on the Budget in the House of Commons; but as I was watching CPAC, they instead said that because the first speaker didn't show up for her announcements(Diane Ablonczy) then the budget was passed by proxy(equal to unanimous consent)

Now Ms Ablonczy was late by but a few minutes, and this tardiness was to account for the unanimous passing by proxy of the budget...does anyone else see this as an odd practice in accordance to the House of Commons traditions?

Your thoughts on the matter:

This was an honest mistake by everyone. People weren't paying attention and didn't notice the budget went through because they were waiting their turn. The Tories later offered a two-hour take-note debate on the legislation before turning it over to the Senate, where it is also expected to pass.

But the Liberals purposly pulled a similar thing last time around to avoid a non-confidence vote- they held a "surprise" midnight reading.

The opposition Conservatives denounced the Liberal-NDP budget deal and threatened repeatedly to vote against the budget and bring down the government. But on June 23, the Liberals deployed a rarely-used procedural tactic to limit debate. In a midnight vote, the Liberal's amended budget passed third reading.

[Peckerwood]

But the Liberals purposly pulled a similar thing last time around to avoid a non-confidence vote- they held a "surprise" midnight reading.
Yes...but this debate was expected, and the news media was scheduled to follow it on CBC Newsworld, and CTV Newsnet...I turned on CPAC specifically to watch it...and I am but a lowly citizen who isn't scheduled to debate in the parliament.

So if just little old me can set my time aside to watch this in the afternoon, then how is it that those in parliament who all know it is coming didn't have the where-with-all to do the same? It wasn't a surprise meeting...it wasn't hidden from the opposition parties...they knew it was coming.

Negligence I say...I would have expected more from the opponents of those in power.

[Spare-Flair]

Yes...but this debate was expected, and the news media was scheduled to follow it on CBC Newsworld, and CTV Newsnet...I turned on CPAC specifically to watch it...and I am but a lowly citizen who isn't scheduled to debate in the parliament.

So if just little old me can set my time aside to watch this in the afternoon, then how is it that those in parliament who all know it is coming didn't have the where-with-all to do the same? It wasn't a surprise meeting...it wasn't hidden from the opposition parties...they knew it was coming.

Negligence I say...I would have expected more from the opponents of those in power.

I don't think you are reading the story right. Diane Ablonczy (my MP actually) was a few minutes late and the opposition members were waiting for her to stand up and speak but didn't realize she wasn't there yet so nobody spoke up. When she did arrive and started, the House Speaker said that it had already passed and it seems none of the MPs knew what had already transpired. The parties who were supposed to speak and debate all showed up.

If you watch CPAC you'll realize how slow and boring parliamentary processes can get and I can just imagine everyone sitting there twiddling their dumbs waiting for things to happen instead of paying attention and somehow were all so vacant minded they didn't notice the house reader announcing each reading had passed.

[Casper]

[QUOTE=Spare-Flair]This was an honest mistake by everyone. People weren't paying attention and didn't notice the budget went through because they were waiting their turn. The Tories later offered a two-hour take-note debate on the legislation before turning it over to the Senate, where it is also expected to pass.

Y'know, if the Libs, NDP and Bloc were so up in arms about the budget, you'd think at least ONE OF THEM would be paying attention

[stevethewheel]

heh. All political parties take advantage of these kinds of slip-ups. It happens in business too, if meetings normally start late, and you want to get something done you round up the key people and start on time, make the first agenda item yours, and it gets approval. The folks who come in 10 min late go WTF but they have an uphill battle on their hands.

The Liberals and NDP were probably tuned out because they expected some boring preamble. Have you seen the side discussions MP's have? Probably discussing last night's dinner or something. Whoops.

[NG]

My thoughts:

WHAT IN THE H*LL ARE THE OPPOSITION PARTIES DOING??

Sounds like they were snowjobed.

Hardly ethical on the part of the Cons (but what am I to expect) but legal.

Hopefully the Liberal dominated senate will use this incident to actually debate the bill - and bottle it up till the next election.

[d_jedi]

The passage surprised everyone — including the governing Conservatives — as the bill was quickly approved through a procedural move when no one rose in the Commons to resume debating the legislation.

“We did not anticipate the unanimous consent of the opposition to the budget,” Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said, his face beaming.

“But I thank them. Thanks very much.”

Not realizing what had happened, after the legislation had passed third reading Conservative MP Diane Ablonczy stood to resume debating the bill.

Opposition critics did the same, only to be told by the Speaker that the legislation had already moved on.

NDP Leader Jack Layton appear unconcerned about the development, suggesting further debate would be futile.

“The fact is that the House was essentially at this point just spinning its wheels on this budget,” he said.

“Everybody knew this budget was going to pass with the support of the Bloc (Quebecois) and our view was let’s get on to business.”
From the Toronto Star.

Doesn't appear to be some intentional, sleazy tactic.. and the opposition didn't really care, anyway (at least, the NDP)..

[Peckerwood]

Sounds like they were snowjobed.

Hardly ethical on the part of the Cons (but what am I to expect) but legal.

Hopefully the Liberal dominated senate will use this incident to actually debate the bill - and bottle it up till the next election.
You have got to be kidding me...how can you snowjob a politician while they are sitting in the House...all they had to do was speak up and move to make their announcements by their respective Party House Leaders.

Lack of action is hardly a snowjob...and it isn't unethical on the part of the Cons if it is a matter of Procedural Law.

Are you insinuating that the Libs, NDP, and the Bloc don't know their respective jobs?...I would say that they were caught sleeping at the wheel...nothing more.