Ottawa, ON – Mark Carney was elected on a promise to “move at unimaginable speeds,” but since the election, all we’ve seen from the Liberals is obstruction with unimaginable frequency. Since the start of the Fall session, Mark Carney’s Liberals have been obstructing progress on their own bills, blocking legislation, and treating Parliament with nothing short of contempt. 

His Ministers have ignored twenty separate requests to appear before committee. Meanwhile, Liberal committee chairs have been adjourning or suspending meetings without the consent of the committee or even outright cancelling meetings on short notice.

The most egregious case of Liberal obstruction is at the Justice and Human Rights Committee, where they have adjourned early or cancelled meetings entirely to avoid debating Bill C-14, the Liberals’ Bail Law. In a particularly ridiculous stunt, they stood outside the House of Commons to complain about the lack of progress, trying to blame the opposition for their own gridlock. 

Carney himself said C-14 is “fundamental to protecting Canadians” and wants to pass it “as quickly as possible,” yet the Justice Committee has still been unable to debate his signature crime legislation, with his party rejecting consideration of the bill at committee.

That’s despite Conservative MP Andrew Lawton tabling a motion on November 27 to make it a priority for the committee to study the bill. Conservative Shadow Minister for Justice, Larry Brock, asked in the most recent meeting for unanimous consent to consider C-14 three times; the Liberals denied all three attempts.

Instead of moving forward on their own bail legislation, the committee’s work has stalled for weeks, triggered by internal Liberal party chaos over Bill C-9. After considering just a few amendments, the Liberals adjourned committee before outright cancelling its December 4th meeting. And now, just two days before the end of session, the Liberals cancelled the Justice Committee meeting scheduled for today, just hours in advance, preventing Conservatives from demanding the government prioritize ending Liberal bail.

They have been scrambling after widespread backlash to a proposed amendment that will remove key religious freedom protections from the Criminal Code. A sure sign of the Liberals’ priorities, they brought the committee back to pass this divisive and un-Canadian amendment, rebuffing Conservative efforts to prioritize bail instead.

As they obstruct their own legislation, Carney’s Minister of Justice has still refused to show up despite two requests to do so. He has further failed to attend the National Defence Committee for a study on the Military Justice System Modernization Act. 

The embattled Minister of Public Safety also has yet to appear before the Justice Committee’s study on bail, sentencing and repeat offenders. He has also failed to appear before the Transport Committee on the national security implications of BC Ferries’ purchase of Beijing boats. To cap it all off, both ministers have refused to appear at the Status of Women committee for a study on coercive behaviour and gender-based violence.

They aren’t the only cabinet members to show scorn towards scrutiny. Carney’s Minister of Environment has failed to appear for three separate studies on the ZEV Mandate, the global carbon tax on maritime transportation and on the industrial carbon tax. It’s been so long since the first request that the Liberal’s own 60-day deadline for reviewing the mandate has passed without any update.

But that’s not the only auto-related study the Carney Liberals avoided. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne has refused to appear for an investigation into the now-infamous Stellantis contracts he signed that failed to prevent thousands from losing their jobs.

He joins a dis-honour roll that also includes:

  • Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation, Evan Solomon, has not appeared for a “study to assess artificial intelligence (AI), the challenges it poses, and how it should be regulated”;
  • Former Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Dominic LeBlanc has not shown up to the Fisheries and Oceans Committee on “granting of exploratory lobster fishing licenses”;
  • Minister of Indigenous Services, Mandy Gull-Masty, has not appeared on an Auditor General report for almost two months;
  • Minister of Public Works and Procurement, Joël Lightbound, and Secretary of State (Defence Procurement), Stephen Fuhr, missing OGGO committee’s study on their Defence Investment Agency;
  • Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Steven MacKinnon, not appearing at Procedure and House Affairs despite a request in October;
  • Minister of Public Safety of Canada, Gary Anandasangaree, not showing up for a study on foreign interference and progress towards a Foreign Interference Transparency Registry; and
  • Minister of Industry, Mélanie Joly, not making an appearance at Science and Research for a study on Bill C-8.

All of this assumes the committees can meet in the first place. Citizenship and Immigration Committee had no meetings scheduled for this week, Finance had multiple meetings cancelled on November 26th and December 3rd, and the Liberals just gave word that the Finance Committee meeting for today was cancelled as well. Science and Research had their December 8th meeting cancelled with no reason given.

At the National Defence committee, the chair has adjourned and suspended meetings without the consent of the committee, often while members are actively debating a motion. This recently occurred at meetings on December 2 and December 4. 

The Liberal Chair at Public Safety and National Security gavelled out meetings while Conservative MPs were trying to speak. On two occasions, the schedule for the committee’s study on deporting foreign national criminals was reduced to just one hour.

Egregious Liberal obstruction has gotten so bad that Conservatives on the Transport committee have twice had to use emergency powers to compel the Chair to even convene a meeting. For over a month, Liberal members have been filibustering a motion to hear from victims, while the Chair has refused to hold meetings on three occasions.

On December 2nd, the Chair suspended the meeting for “technical reasons,” then snuck out of the committee room with his Liberal colleagues without telling anyone or formally ending the meeting.

Carney’s Liberals have tried accusing everyone except themselves of obstruction, but their absurd conduct makes a mockery of the Parliamentary process and shows they don’t care about getting work done. It’s time for Liberals to start treating Parliament with respect because every moment spent on delays and wasteful house procedure is one fewer to deal with Canadians’ inability to afford food, housing and the rising cost of everyday life.