Bill C-3 (Historical)

Appropriation Act No. 4, 2015-16

An Act for granting to Her Majesty certain sums of money for the federal public administration for the financial year ending March 31, 2016

Canada Labour Code

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Durham, ON]

Madam Speaker, the member always has very insightful questions in this House.

I cannot put myself in the shoes of the new government, and I certainly would not want to be in those shoes. However, if we look at the first 100 days—and there is a snazzy video out on the first 100 days—we can see the legislative agenda.

Bill C-1 is a formulaic administration-of-oaths bill; Bill C-2 was tax increases and the elimination of the TFSA; Bill C-3 was a massive injection of spending, in large part to cover a promise on the Syrian refugee resettlement; Bill C-4 is the unwinding of labour modernization from the previous Parliament, clearly a quid pro quo for support during the election; and Bill C-5 is undoing the sick day negotiation with the public service.

If we look at the legislative agenda of the new government in the first 100 days, it is tax, spend, and support the friends who got them into office. Contrast that with the previous government's first 100 days. There was the Federal Accountability Act, child care benefits for all families, and a GST reduction. It was about giving back to Canadians, not taking away.

Message from the Senate

[The Deputy Speaker, Bruce Stanton]

I have the honour to inform the House that a message has been received from the Senate informing this House that the Senate has passed the following bill: Bill C-3, an Act for granting to Her Majesty certain sums of money for the federal public administration for the financial year ending March 31, 2016.

Supplementary Estimates (B), 2015-16

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

I wish to inform the House that a number of administrative errors occurred with respect to Bill C-3, An Act for granting to Her Majesty certain sums of money for the federal public administration for the financial year ending March 31, 2016.

Due to these administrative errors, the copy of the bill that was circulated at the opening of yesterday's session did not contain the usual schedule that reflects how the global amount of supplementary estimates is allocated among the various votes. As is the usual practice on the final supply day, the House considered and concurred in the supplementary estimates followed by the supply bill based upon these estimates.

I have instructed the Acting Clerk and his officials to take the necessary steps to ensure that a corrected copy of Bill C-3, the one that accurately reflects the will of the House, is forwarded to the other place.

I thank hon. members for their attention.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the House adopted Bill C-3, An Act for granting to Her Majesty certain sums of money for the federal public administration for the financial year ending March 31, 2016. As is our practice, I rose to place a question to the President of the Treasury Board during the committee of the whole. I asked him if he could confirm if the bill was in its usual form and the President of the Treasury Board replied, “The form of this bill is, in fact, the same as that passed in the previous supply period”.

I checked the Journals Branch this morning and the copy of the bill that was adopted by the House of Commons did not include the schedules that contain the actual amounts in the supplementary estimates. It would appear that we did not actually grant for Her Majesty certain sums of money for the federal public administration for the financial year ending March 31, because the bill was not in fact presented in its complete form, having excluded the schedule which provides for the authorization the House must actually give.

Originating with the Magna Carta, the crown cannot spend what the people do not approve through their elected representatives in the House of Commons. That is probably the most important foundation in public finance. Therefore, if information about that spending is not properly included in the legislation adopted in the House, then the Government of Canada does not have the authorization to spend the money that it does. That is the first point.

The second point is that the President of the Treasury Board took great lengths to say that he would “surprise” me by actually answering the question. In fact, he did surprise me and he did answer the question, but then he surprised me again today by virtue of the fact that his answer was incorrect. I looked back at the schedule of the previous supply bill that was passed by the House of Commons and the schedule was in fact present, which is contrary to the words the President of the Treasury Board uttered when he said that the form of the bill was the same as that passed in the previous supply period. We now know that this is not accurate and that the President of the Treasury Board has misled the House.

This of course creates a dilemma because the schedule has not been adopted by the House and it is one for which I do not have a solution, but it is one that I am obliged, as a member of the House of Commons, to bring to your attention, Mr. Speaker, and to the attention of the House.