Prorogation ends this parliamentary session. At 1140 days, this past parliamentary session was the longest for a minority parliament in Canadian history. The prorogation is until March 24th, at which time there will be a Throne Speech.
The House of Commons and Senate will not sit during this period of time, but government continues its work- just as it does during any regular constituency week. For example, I will continue my work on behalf of our community and as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministers of Energy and Natural Resources, and Environment and Climate Change. This includes my work on a cap on emissions from the oil and gas industry.
I have been asked about the length of time of this prorogation. In fact, we were not scheduled to return to sitting in the House of Commons until January 27th, and the Ontario legislature will not sit until March 3rd. Ultimately, we will sit 4 weeks less than our regular calendar due to the prorogation.
One big change is that all legislation and committee work is dropped from the Order Paper. Laws that were active but hadn’t passed would have to be reintroduced in the next sitting. This clears the way for a new session of Parliament and a relaunch of an agenda that can only begin with a new speech from the throne.
Please note, that during prorogation, my constituency office will continue to function as normal and will continue to be available to assist community members with federal departments like IRCC and the CRA.
