NCC Bill Article From Le Droit

Patrice Gaudreault wrote an article in Le Droit today about the former Bill C-37. Jean-Paul Murry supplied GuideGatineau with an English Translation.*

“Dead on the Order Paper: NCC bill to be reintroduced,” by Patrice Gaudreaut, Le Droit, January 6, 2010

Although it died on the Order Paper, legislation on the National Capital Commission (NCC) should rise from its ashes with several coats of varnish. At least that’s what some federal MPs want, having spent the final weeks of 2009 dissecting the bill, only to have the ground cut out from under them by parliamentary prorogation.

“It’s very frustrating,” says Ottawa-Vanier Liberal MP Mauril Bélanger. “It shows tremendous disrespect for the work of parliamentarians and for the community.”

Introduced last June 9 by Ministers Lawrence Cannon and John Baird, Bill C-37 provided greater protection for Gatineau Park, along with a range of measures affecting NCC governance. Since October, some forty amendments were tabled before a parliamentary committee, with a third of them coming from Conservative benches. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision to suspend parliament until March, following the Vancouver Olympics, has dissolved parliamentary committees and nipped legislation in the bud.

For Hull-Aylmer Liberal MP Marcel Proulx, this boils down to an indecent manoeuvre which sends bills back to square one. “Testimonies can always be used, because we have the transcripts, but the work as such has to start again,” he says.

All told, 41 amendments were tabled in committee, including those from the Conservatives (14), as well as from the Bloc (14), the Liberals (8) and the NDP (5). Opposition MPs want the new bill to reflect this. “It would be bad faith for them to reintroduce the same bill,” says Mr. Proulx.

Back on the rails

The office of the minister responsible for the NCC, Lawrence Cannon, intimated the bill would be rapidly reintroduced in the new session of Parliament. “We’ll try to get agreement from the opposition to ensure quick adoption of government bills, including the NCC bill,” said a spokesman for Minister Cannon, in an email.

Last month, Minister Cannon said he was extremely disappointed his bill was progressing more slowly than expected, saying in the same breath he hoped it would be adopted at the earliest opportunity. “I feel like sending Mr. Cannon’s comments to his prime minister,” said Mr. Bélanger.

* Note that GuideGatineau is still working on establishing a bilingual format…we’ll get there eventually.