House suspends after bill that recognizes Canadian artists fails to get a sponsor

Senate Committee on Transport and Communications deputy chair Senator Patricia Bovey responds to a question during a news conference regarding connected and automated vehicles in Ottawa, Monday January 29, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA — The House of Commons took an unplanned break Monday morning after no member of Parliament came forward to sponsor the legislation it was set to debate.

The House was scheduled to tackle a bill that would have recognized the critical role artists and the arts play in every dimension of Canadian life.

"This will be the foundation for developing the necessary policies for the arts, museums and performance halls, art galleries, workshops, publishing houses and more," said Manitoba Sen. Patricia Bovey, the bill's sponsor, during a final debate last year.

The Senate passed the bill in October.

It was intended to be the platform for "much-needed policy revisions, updates and parameters for the creative sector in this country, which is the third-largest employer in our nation and yet one whose creators comprise the largest percentage of workers living below the poverty line," Bovey said.

Bovey's bill was supposed to be sponsored in the House of Commons by Liberal MP Jim Carr.

But Carr died in December and no MP had been found to take his place on the legislation before it came up on the House schedule on Monday.

Speaker Anthony Rota was forced to suspend the proceedings for an hour until MPs were ready to take up the next item on the agenda.

A spokesperson for government House leader Mark Holland says it's up to MPs themselves to come forward to sponsor a non-government bill, and the government has no role in determining who sponsors them.

More than 600 people were involved in Bovey's consultations prior to her bill being tabled in the Senate.

Bovey, who is soon turning 75, is set to retire from the Senate on May 15.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 24, 2023.