“Globalization is the language of the 21st century,” affirmed one of the members of the Liberal Party.
In their first committee session, delegates of the Canadian House of Commons began discussion of their topic, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TTP), a trade agreement between twelve Pacific Rim countries (Canada, Australia, Chile, Japan, Brunei, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, USA, Vietnam).
The committee quickly entered a period of rapid questioning, whereby members of the Green Party, New Democratic Party (NDP), yet mainly the opposition Conservative party, posed demanding inquiries to the Liberal government.
These hard-hitting inquiries included questions addressed to the Liberal Prime Minister regarding “free vote,” to which the Prime Minister responded that the Liberal party has always strived for transparency in their government. Throughout the debate, the Primer Minister emphasized the Liberal party’s openness to negotiations with representatives of the TPP, and reiterated his wish for “transparent negotiations” (PM) to occur, facilitated by the government itself with no third party organizations or bipartisan negotiations.
Later in the questioning period, the leader of the NDP suggested that the TPP would greatly impact resource rights of the indigenous people in the countries involved, including those in BC. The NDP leader went on to question how the Liberal Party would work to protect these rights. On behalf of the Liberal party, the Prime Minister responded by highlighting the fact that this most recent election brought the highest indigenous turnout in history. He went on to emphasize the importance of investing back into Canadian businesses and economies, and working with indigenous people to build sustainable businesses on their reserves, to bring out the full potential of their reserves.
Furious competition was seen between the parties in this first committee session, as they compared how many free trade agreements each party had put forth. The Conservatives proudly noted their hefty 44 count of free trade agreements, to which the Liberal government countered with the fact that their party hasn’t been in power long enough to implement such agreements. The Liberals went on to accuse the Conservatives of bringing Canada close to economic collapse, and stated that many of these aforementioned agreements hadn’t benefited the majority of Canadians. Towards the end of the questioning period, the PM called for unity stating that parties should strive not to criticize each other but rather work together to solve the issues.
Overall, the HOC’s first questioning period started out rather tentative, but quickly become more heated and energetic. Delegates flailed their placards, yelling “Mr. Speaker!” to get the attention of the Speaker so that they may be chosen to participate in the sometimes vicious debate. At times, members of the House of Commons ruthlessly heckled each other, using accusatory language such as “racist,” “liar,” and “slander.”
Members also presented more unorthodox requests such as one instance where a delegate requested that the Conservative critic of finance “please bring in two bags of Cheetos next time.” Members of the NDP and Liberal parties even accused the government of “choosing to omit” their opinions. Will such slanderous, accusatory behaviour continue? Will these parties be able to set aside their differences to solve the TTP issue? Only time, and further debate, will tell.
In their first committee session, delegates of the Canadian House of Commons began discussion of their topic, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TTP), a trade agreement between twelve Pacific Rim countries (Canada, Australia, Chile, Japan, Brunei, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, USA, Vietnam).
The committee quickly entered a period of rapid questioning, whereby members of the Green Party, New Democratic Party (NDP), yet mainly the opposition Conservative party, posed demanding inquiries to the Liberal government.
These hard-hitting inquiries included questions addressed to the Liberal Prime Minister regarding “free vote,” to which the Prime Minister responded that the Liberal party has always strived for transparency in their government. Throughout the debate, the Primer Minister emphasized the Liberal party’s openness to negotiations with representatives of the TPP, and reiterated his wish for “transparent negotiations” (PM) to occur, facilitated by the government itself with no third party organizations or bipartisan negotiations.
Later in the questioning period, the leader of the NDP suggested that the TPP would greatly impact resource rights of the indigenous people in the countries involved, including those in BC. The NDP leader went on to question how the Liberal Party would work to protect these rights. On behalf of the Liberal party, the Prime Minister responded by highlighting the fact that this most recent election brought the highest indigenous turnout in history. He went on to emphasize the importance of investing back into Canadian businesses and economies, and working with indigenous people to build sustainable businesses on their reserves, to bring out the full potential of their reserves.
Furious competition was seen between the parties in this first committee session, as they compared how many free trade agreements each party had put forth. The Conservatives proudly noted their hefty 44 count of free trade agreements, to which the Liberal government countered with the fact that their party hasn’t been in power long enough to implement such agreements. The Liberals went on to accuse the Conservatives of bringing Canada close to economic collapse, and stated that many of these aforementioned agreements hadn’t benefited the majority of Canadians. Towards the end of the questioning period, the PM called for unity stating that parties should strive not to criticize each other but rather work together to solve the issues.
Overall, the HOC’s first questioning period started out rather tentative, but quickly become more heated and energetic. Delegates flailed their placards, yelling “Mr. Speaker!” to get the attention of the Speaker so that they may be chosen to participate in the sometimes vicious debate. At times, members of the House of Commons ruthlessly heckled each other, using accusatory language such as “racist,” “liar,” and “slander.”
Members also presented more unorthodox requests such as one instance where a delegate requested that the Conservative critic of finance “please bring in two bags of Cheetos next time.” Members of the NDP and Liberal parties even accused the government of “choosing to omit” their opinions. Will such slanderous, accusatory behaviour continue? Will these parties be able to set aside their differences to solve the TTP issue? Only time, and further debate, will tell.