The Prime Minister has
announced he will step down as leader of the Liberal Party once a new leader is chosen. This triggers a leadership selection process within the Liberal Party. The Prime Minister has asked the Governor General to prorogue Parliament until March 24, 2025 and she has agreed.
What does it mean to prorogue Parliament?
This is like a pause and reset. The House of Commons and Senate won’t meet until March 24. All government bills and unfinished business are terminated.
One exception is legislation introduced by individual MPs, known as Private Members Bills. These bills are typically restored in the new session of Parliament at the same stage in the process they were at when Parliament prorogued.
Private members bills on public policy issues that are introduced by Senators are treated differently. Sponsors of the Senate bills must ask for support for them to be reintroduced at the same stage, which may not be granted.
What does this mean for the bills and initiatives the EFC is tracking?
Government bills are terminated, like
Bill C-63 which includes the
Online Harms Act and changes to hate speech provisions in the
Criminal Code and
Canadian Human Rights Act. The government’s
planned legislation to regulate charities that offer pregnancy counselling dies on the list of upcoming business.
Just to note, these bills can be reintroduced in the new session, but they would start at the beginning of the parliamentary process again.
The government will announce its priorities in the new session of Parliament.
Private members’ bills that originated in the House of Commons usually continue at the same stage in the process. This would mean bills like
Bill C-270, the Stopping Internet Sexual Exploitation Act, are likely to continue in the new session of Parliament.
Committee reports that have been submitted to the government are still on the record. For example, the
Finance Committee recently recommended the government make changes to charitable status in the next budget. Among its more than 460 recommendations, it recommended removing “advancing religion” as a charitable purpose and no longer providing charitable status to “anti-abortion organizations.”
This committee report is still on the record, even though Parliament is prorogued. If the committee had asked for a government response to its recommendations, that would still come in the next session of Parliament. This committee did not ask for a response; it just offered the recommendations for the government’s consideration as it develops the 2025 budget and economic statements. The government is not required to accept these recommendations.
The Finance Minister had
announced plans to introduce a bill to extend the deadline for charitable donations. A bill to extend the deadline cannot be introduced while Parliament is prorogued, as the House of Commons and Senate are not meeting. See the Canadian Centre for Christian Charities
blog for more details.
While Parliament is not meeting for the next two and a half months, MPs are likely to be in their ridings. This gives more opportunity to meet with local MPs to build relationships and share any concerns.
Please continue to pray for the leadership of our country.