By Andrew Thomson | UPDATED November 23, 2021 11:41amET
Parliament begins each session with stately pageantry that includes a speech by the Governor General setting out the government’s agenda and priorities – and summoning parliamentarians back to work.
MORE ON ELECTING THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE
Mary Simon, the new vice-regal representative in Ottawa, outlined the Liberal government's plan to implement campaign commitments after an election nine weeks ago that produced a near-identical result as the last Parliament.
Here's what to watch for as MPs again come together:
1) THE GOVERNMENT’S AGENDA
The Liberals pledged swift movement on a number of pandemic-related fronts, from better protection from harassment for health care workers to emergency benefits that better target the hardest-hit workers and sectors.
The Liberal platform also vowed action “within 100 days” on:
- Re-introducing legislation to place online streaming services and social media platforms under the federal Broadcasting Act, subjecting them to the same rules and regulations as traditional Canadian broadcasters and giving new regulatory powers to the CRTC. The government maintained that the former Bill C-10 would not infringe upon Canadians' right to free speech on social media platforms, despite widespread concerns over the CRTC's power to regulate user-generated content.
- Legislation to “require digital platforms that generate revenues from the publication of news content to share a portion of their revenues with Canadian news outlets.”
- Legislation to “combat serious forms of harmful online content, specifically hate speech, terrorist content, content that incites violence, child sexual abuse material and the non-consensual distribution of intimate images.
- Amending the Canada Labour Code to provide 10 days of paid sick leave for federally regulated workers.
- Appointing a new federal housing advocate.
- For a third time, introducing legislation to ban conversion therapy in Canada. The first attempt ended when the Liberal government prorogued Parliament in 2020; the second bill died in the Senate when Parliament dissolved ahead of this year’s election.
- Re-introducing a bill on reforming mandatory minimum sentences that would represent a major shift in drug policy away from incarceration and towards treatment. The former Bill C-22 would have repealed mandatory minimum sentences for certain drug offences that disproportionately affect Indigenous and Black offenders and those struggling with addictions.
- Re-introducing legislation that includes an assurance of the right of working and being served in French within businesses under federal jurisdictions in Quebec.
2) HOW PARLIAMENT LOOKS
Will the House of Commons again operate in a hybrid fashion with MPs in the chamber and joining by remote video link?
The Conservatives and Bloc Québécois favour a return to full in-person sittings; the Liberals and NDP have indicated support for continuing hybrid sittings.
Meanwhile. after shifting his position several times last month, Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole finally announced his party would abide by an order from the all-party Board of Internal Economy that MPs must be fully vaccinated to enter the House of Commons chamber.
O’Toole pledged to challenge the Board’s authority to make the decision, rather than the House itself.
UPDATE: The government has a motion on notice to reinstate hybrid sittings and require that medical vaccine exemptions for in-person attendance conform with "guidance from the Ontario Ministry of Health document entitled 'Medical Exemptions to COVID-19 Vaccination' and the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI)."
3) HOW PARLIAMENT WORKS
What will the atmosphere be as the 44th Parliament begins?
By the time MPs ended their parliamentary duties this past summer, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was speaking of "obstructionism and toxicity." And the opposition parties had voted to hold his government in contempt over access to records from the Public Health Agency of Canada.
(The government sought judicial sanction from the Federal Court of Canada to block the document disclosure but dropped the case when Parliament officially dissolved.)
The official opposition will seek to press the Liberal government on Canada's economic recovery and worries about inflation. But Conservatives will also contend with questions about Erin O'Toole's leadership and the vaccination status of his caucus.
Much attention will also be on NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and his party’s willingness to support the government and avoid a snap election.
Singh told reporters last week that no formal agreement was on the table and the Liberals should not take NDP votes for granted. But -- that he was open to suggestions from the government.
Also on the agenda this week, potentially: an emergency debate on the massive flooding in British Columbia and the federal response. Both the Conservatives and NDP are expected to request a debate.
SPEECH FROM THE THRONE: HOW IT LOOKS
In 1984 the Montreal Gazette said the images might have “mystified Canadians watching the event on television.”
In fact, the traditions surrounding the speech from the throne trace their lineage back to 16th-century England.
The Senate speaker will send Greg Peters, the Usher of the Black Rod, to summon MPs to the temporary upper chamber just east of Parliament Hill. Peters, known colloquially as Black Rod, will knock three times on the main door of the temporary House of Commons chamber in West Block. (The door is closed to symbolize the independence of MPs from the Crown.)
The House sergeant-at-arms informs the newly-elected speaker that Black Rod is carrying a message from Governor General Mary May Simon. Black Rod asks the speaker and MPs to "attend" the Governor General in the Senate, since the Governor General or monarch is not traditionally allowed inside the House of Commons.
The Governor General, meanwhile, leads a ceremonial procession from Rideau Hall to the temporary Senate chamber.
(COVID-19 meant the September 2020 speech was focused more on health and safety than pomp and ceremony. A smaller military band and distanced inspection. Fewer people in the Senate chamber and House of Commons.)
The royal representative almost always reads the Speech from the Throne. Sometimes the monarch performs the duty themselves. King George VI read the 1939 speech during a pre-war visit to Canada. Queen Elizabeth II did the same in 1957 and 1977.
Whether a king, queen, or governor general delivers the speech, its text is entered onto parchment and presented to the Crown by the Speaker of the House.
WHY IT HAPPENS
What's the constitutional basis for the Speech from the Throne?
From House of Commons Procedure and Practice:
Section 38 of the Constitution Act, 1867 provides for the summoning of Parliament: "The Governor General shall from Time to Time, in the Queen’s Name, by Instrument under the Great Seal of Canada, summon and call together the House of Commons."
The "Instrument" consists of a series of proclamations issued by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister and published in the Canada Gazette.
On the day that Parliament is dissolved or prorogued, a proclamation is issued summoning Parliament to meet on a given day. It is issued at the end of the preceding session, in keeping with the principle of the continuity of Parliament, whereby a session ends with provision made for its next meeting. A second proclamation confirms or changes the date and may set the time for Parliament to meet for the 'Dispatch of Business' (the date can later be advanced or put back). A third proclamation is issued if the time for Parliament to meet was not announced in the second proclamation.
And, MPs and senators need to know why they were officially summoned by third part of Parliament: the Crown. Hence the speech.
The government writes the speech -- aside from an introduction by the Governor General -- and sets the date.
House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota (centre) and MPs listen to the speech from the throne on Sept. 23, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
AFTER THE SPEECH
Once MPs return to the House of Commons, a backbench member of the government caucus typically move a motion to consider an Address in Reply: a short statement of thanks to the Governor General for providing the speech.
Debate can last up to six days, beginning with “Leaders’ Day.” The official opposition leader speaks and typically moves an amendment to the Address in Reply. By tradition the prime minister speaks next, followed by the other party leaders.
Other procedural matters to watch for in the new Parliament:
- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will introduce Bill C-1, the traditional pro forma legislation that affirms the House's independence and its ability to address issues not contained in the speech from the throne.
- The new speaker announces membership for the Board of Internal Economy and the appointment of deputy speaker and two assistant deputy speakers.
- Government House Leader Mark Holland moves the appointment of members to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, which is charged with creating membership for other standing committees.
MORE FACTS
- One tradition remains peculiar to the Palace of Westminster in London. The cellars there are searched before every opening of Parliament in a ceremonial nod to the foiled 1605 Gunpowder Plot, which would have blown up the House Lords and killed King James I as the beginning of a Catholic revolt in England.
- The speech from the throne is almost always delivered mid-afternoon. But the October 2007 address was held at 6:35pm ET. Amidst heightened election speculation, critics accused Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservatives of reducing the opposition’s ability to respond before that night’s newscasts and newspaper deadlines.
