Inside Politics

Orders of the Day - One more QP and it's a wrap!

by Kady O'Malley Posted: June 21, 2012 8:50 AM Last Updated: June 21, 2012 9:30 AM
Don't blink or you'll miss it -- the traditional last-day-before-the-break festivities in the House of Commons, that is, which will be operating on a shortened pre-holiday schedule today: routine proceedings at 1:45, members' statement at 2pm, followed by QP at 2:15 and one last vote -- second reading of the First Nations Transparency Act -- at 3pm, after which the Grand Inquest of the Nation -- or, at least, the Lower House thereof -- will power down until September.

To highlight this happy occasion, a series of press conferences will unfold at various venues across the Hill this morning, with NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair, Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae and Government House Leader Peter Van Loan all slated to go before the cameras, although of the three advisories heralding the respective events, only one correctly referred to the end of the spring "sitting", with the others employing the incorrect but all too frequently misused "session."  

A parliamentary session ends with prorogation or dissolution, neither of which has happened. (Yet.) All other adjournments -- even lengthy ones -- are simply suspensions of an ongoing session. Thus, we welcome the close of the spring sitting, and the summer adjournment, during which we will speculate madly as to the possibility that a Speech from the Throne will launch a new session this fall. 

In any case, congratulations to Team PVL for getting it right! 


On the similarly clock-curtailed committee front: Liberal MP Scott Andrews will present his already doomed motion to call -- or, rather, invite -- Conservative MP and fellow Ethics committee member Dean Del Mastro to take a seat at the other end of the table to be questioned over allegations of election expense irregularities, although he'll most likely be obliged to do so behind the in camera curtain. 

UPDATE: Then again, maybe he won't -- or, at least, he'll have to wait until fall. According to a just-received notice, the meeting has been cancelled. 

Meanwhile, over at Public Accounts, it appears that the opposition has successfully thwarted the government's attempt to force an early end to the committee's investigation of the F-35 procurement process: after weeks of behind-closed-doors wrangling over the fate of the putative report on the matter, the last meeting of the sitting, which was to be held this morning, has been cancelled.

Also on the Hill today:

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May will add her voice to those of First Nations communities decrying the decision to shutter the Experimental Lakes Area.

Representatives from Omar Khadr's legal team will provide an update on the status of their client's prison transfer application.

Finally, outside the precinct, former Liberal MP turned possible future leadership candidate Martha Hall Findlay will hold a "media conference" at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier, where she will, as per the advisory,  "unveil a new report attacking supply management in Canada," a stance that, at the very least, will set her apart from the rest of the putative pack, given her party's heretofore effectively unanimous and unwavering support for the current supply management regime.

For up to the minute dispatches from the precinct and beyond, keep your eye on the Parliament Hill Ticker below -- or, alternatively, bookmark it and check back throughout the day. 

Mobile-friendly auto-updating text feed available here

Tags: blackberry jungle, orders of the day