Some More Private Business On The Side

Lest you think that Parliament’s been all about leaks and robocalls and catcalls and countershouts, it’s worth noting that, yes, Parliament did in fact move forward on a few proposed laws yesterday. Shall we list them?

• Bill C-280, An Act to establish a National Strategy for Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency (CCSVI). We talked about this one a couple of weeks back; it was proposed to look at the Zamboni surgical procedure for treating multiple sclerosis. They recorded the vote yesterday, and it was defeated, 133-139.
• Bill C-315, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (French language). Proposed by New Democrat Robert Aubin, this Act would have put federal government operations in Quebec under provincial government language requirements. It was defeated, 90 to 185. It’s noteworthy that a lot of Liberals, including Bob Rae, Marc Garneau and Justin Trudeau, voted with the government on this one.
• Bill C-299, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (kidnapping of young person). Introduced by Conservative David Wilks, this Act would impose a minimum sentence of five years on anyone convicted of kidnapping a victim under the age of 16. It passed second reading, 150 to 123. Kindly note that all the Liberals named above voted against this legislation.
• Bill C-293, An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (vexatious complainants). Introduced by Conservative Roxanne James, this Act allows a prison official, like a commissioner or an institutional head, to declare as “vexatious” an inmate or offender who makes a lot of complaints deemed to be frivolous or otherwise “not in good faith.” This gives the Commissioner the right to dismiss any complaints made by an offender so designated, unless the offender can provide overwhelming evidence to make his complaint valid. This bill passed second reading, but the actual vote count has been deferred until next week. However, of interest: Liberal MP Francis Scarpaleggia has indicated his party will support this bill.

So this Parliament, despite this obsession over whether or not someone cheated in the last election, is getting some stuff done. Really.