The committee due to consider invoking the Emergencies Act is in the hot seat due to strong disagreements between the Liberals and the Conservatives.
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Recall that on February 14, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergency Measures Act to put an end to the occupation of downtown Ottawa, which had lasted for more than two weeks. She was then revoked nine days later when the emergency was deemed to be over.
As the Emergencies Act provides, a parliamentary committee of MPs and senators is to study the government’s use of the act. For his part, the latter must request a public inquiry in order to dig into and clarify the circumstances which led to his invocation. In either case, the prime minister and his cabinet should be called to testify.
But the Liberals and Conservatives can’t agree on who should sit on the parliamentary committee, the National Post reported on Sunday. While no agreement has yet been reached, Liberal House Leader Mark Holland said he will move a motion this week to form an 11-member committee, including seven MPs and four senators.
According to him, the Liberals should have three seats on this committee while the Conservatives should have two. The Bloc Québécois and the NDP would each have one MP on the committee.
“The president would be neither a Liberal, whose government invoked the Emergency Measures Act, nor a Conservative, whose party encouraged the protesters,” said Mark Holland, who suggests three co-presidents from the Bloc. Quebeckers, the NDP and the Senate.
Remember that the Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois had voted against the invocation of this law which had passed in the House of Commons thanks to the combined support of the Liberals and the NDP.
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Reference-www.journaldequebec.com