Inside Politics

Committee Liveblog: Clause-by-clause review of the #omnicrime bill at Justice

by Kady O'Malley Posted: November 23, 2011 5:05 PM Last Updated: November 23, 2011 7:13 PM
UPDATE - One eight-hour day squinting at the fine print of the government's omnibus crime bill down, one afternoon session -- which could go straight through to til midnight -- to go. 

So far, at least as far as I was able to keep track, not a single opposition amendment has survived a vote. In fact, as the review wore on, more and more amendments were deemed inadmissible by the chair -- on the grounds that, if passed, they would alter key elements of the bill -- which sped up the process considerably, albeit with much grumbling ensuing from the opposition side of the table. 

In any case, check back at 3:30 pm for full coverage of today's meeting. 

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Let the marathon of parliamentary oversight begin! 

Later this morning, the justice committee will kick off the painstaking process of going through the fine print of the omnibus crime bill, which will begin this morning, carry on throughout the afternoon and into the night, and, if necessary, pick up tomorrow afternoon and continue until the stroke of midnight, at which point all questions will be put to ensure that the bill is back in the House by Thursday. 

It's worth noting that the very fact that today's meeting is happening at all is a small, but not insignificant victory for the opposition: It is, of course, the direct result of the government's initial attempt to blast through clause-by-clause review in just one sitting day, which so raised the ire of members on the other side of the table that the opposition parties mutinied, denouncing the move as "a dark day for democracy," and spelling each other off to prevent the motion to impose the committee equivalent of time allocation from going to a vote. 

If you missed that meeting, you can catch up by reading the liveblog here. 

Eventually, the Conservatives backed down, and agreed to allow the committee to hold two days of round-the-clock hearings. That process gets underway later today, and of course, I'll be watching the process unfold throughout the day. 

Check back at 8:45 for full coverage! 

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Tags: blackberry jungle, c-10, justice committee liveblogging, omnicrime