Liberals to prorogue parliament until fall

OTTAWA – The Liberal government will prorogue parliament and introduce a new throne speech before parliament resumes in the fall.

The National Post has confirmed news first reported by CTV that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will ask to prorogue parliament. Proroguing will shut down the House of Commons committees investigating the WE charity scandal and remove the legislation currently on parliament’s order paper.

The news comes on the same day as Trudeau is expected to shuffle his cabinet, moving Chrystia Freeland into the role of Finance Minister, replacing Bill Morneau who resigned suddenly Monday evening.

Dominic Leblanc will replace Freeland as minister of intergovernmental affairs.

It will also remove any bills currently on the order paper, giving parliament a chance to restart. The details of exactly when parliament would be suspended and when it would restart have not yet been released, but the Canadian Press was reporting it would be sometime in September.

More details are expected at a press conference with the prime minister scheduled for 3 p.m.

Parliament is currently set to sit once more in August, in a special session, before resuming full sittings in late September. Due to the pandemic, parliament has sat rarely this year, limited to special sittings to pass emergency legislation.

The Liberals did not prorogue parliament during the entirety of their first term in office. The party’s platform in 2015 accused then Prime Minister Stephen Harper of using prorogation to ”avoid difficult political circumstances,” and pledged not to use the tool the same way.

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