First-ever Emergencies Act review committee formed

After days of procedural wrangling, the House of Commons has passed the government’s proposal for striking the historic Emergencies Act Parliamentary Review Committee.

The motion spelling out the composition of the committee passed 214 to 115 on Wednesday evening, following a debate that spanned days.

The committee will include seven MPs: Three Liberals, two Conservatives, one Bloc Quebecois MP, and one NDP MP. As well, there would be four senators, one from each recognized group in the upper chamber.

The MPs who will join the committee have to be named by their respective parties no later than Thursday.

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The never-before-created-committee will have three co-chairs: The Bloc and NDP MPs, plus one senator. The Bloc voted with the Conservatives against invoking the Emergencies Act, while the NDP supported the Liberals in declaring a national public order emergency on Feb. 14, bringing in new powers to end the “Freedom Convoy” blockades and protests.

The Conservatives had pushed back on this proposed structure, saying it “weakened” accountability and gave the Liberals a “working majority”, but the Official Opposition failed to get enough support to back their amendment to see their party take more of a leading role.

“This committee is designed to provide oversight on the government. If the government is convinced that its actions both leading up to the invocation of the Emergencies Act and its actions subsequent to the invocation of the Emergencies Act is justified and defensible, then it should have no problem being held to the account that is required,” said Conservative House Leader John Brassard during debate on the motion on Monday.

The Liberals’ position was that neither the governing party who enacted the Act, nor the Official Opposition who largely backed the trucker convoy should be chairing the committee. These parties will have vice-chair roles.

“It is essential as we move forward and look at this chapter of history that parliamentary review be done and that this committee be both balanced and impartial in its deliberations. I think what we have put forward demonstrates exactly those principles, and I would say it is time we get to work on that committee,” said Government House Leader Mark Holland on Monday when he presented the motion to strike the committee to the House.

The joint House and Senate Parliamentary Review Committee has the responsibility to review the government’s actions under the Act starting on the day it was invoked, and ensure the government used its powers responsibly through the 10 days it remained in effect.

Every member of the committee and all staff tasked to work with it will have to take an oath of secrecy. The motion to create the committee also notes the requirement under law for much of the committee’s work to be done behind closed doors, though it does carve out that should the content of the meeting be able to be aired publicly, that audio or video broadcasting be allowed.

Given the Emergencies Act has been revoked, the committee will have to issue its first report back to both the House and Senate within days of beginning their work.

The Senate still has work to do on its end to formalize its role in the committee, but the government is anticipating that will happen in short order.

There is a push from one group in the upper chamber to see a special Senate-only committee take on a review of the government’s use of the Act, which if agreed to, could happen separately but would not satisfy the requirement under the Act for a joint parliamentary oversight committee.

“The [Canadian Senators Group] is concerned about the proposed process for reviewing the government’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act. We are confident that such a politically charged subject would benefit from a substantive investigation, freer from partisan considerations,” said Canadian Senators Group Sen. Scott Tannas in a statement.