Poll suggests more than half of Canadians unaware of gridlock in House of Commons

Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. A debate has ground work to a halt in the House of Commons for weeks, but a new poll suggests that most Canadians are not even aware it's happening. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

A debate has ground work in the House of Commons to a halt for weeks, but a new poll suggests that most Canadians are not even aware it's happening.

In a new survey from polling firm Leger, 55 per cent of respondents said they had not heard about the procedural issues that have gridlocked Parliament for more than 12 sitting days.

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The issue stems from a privilege motion that was raised by the Conservatives about a green-tech fund that was found to have misspent government money.

The Tories have vowed to continue debate on their motion until the Liberals hand over unredacted documents about the fund to Parliament and the RCMP.

The government provided redacted versions of those documents to the House of Commons in August, and the RCMP say they also have that information.

However, the Mounties have raised doubts about whether they could legally use documents given to them by Parliament as part of an investigation, and the Liberals are so far refusing to release the unredacted versions.

Matters of privilege take priority over all other business in the House of Commons until they are settled.

The poll suggests that roughly the same amount of people think the Liberals and the Conservatives bear responsibility for the issue, at 27 per cent each. However, 26 per cent of those who took the poll said they do not know who is responsible.

The governing Liberals could end the debate if they had the support of another party for a motion of their own.

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet said Wednesday his party would support such a motion if the government finds a way to pass two Bloc bills on old age security and supply management.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said the Liberals continue to talk with both the Bloc and the NDP about bringing forward a motion to curtail the debate.

A plurality of people who took the Leger poll, 39 per cent, said the government and opposition parties should work together to solve the issues. That was the most popular option among people who said they were supporters of the Liberals and the NDP.

Holding an election to break the gridlock was the most popular option among Conservative voters who took the survey.

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Despite a majority of respondents signalling that they were unaware of the procedural issues in the House of Commons, 61 per cent of indicated that they think Parliament is not working efficiently.

Even after the debate on the current motion has been settled, a second matter of privilege raised by the Conservatives is awaiting debate in the House of Commons.

Question period and committee meetings have still been happening but the government is not able to advance its own agenda and opposition parties cannot proceed with opposition day motions during the debate.

The Leger poll gathered input from 1,500 Canadian adults in an online survey between Oct. 18 and 21.

The poll cannot be assigned a margin of error because online surveys are not considered truly random samples.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024. 

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