Dan Albas a Member of Parliament.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Dan Albas
November 03, 2019 - 12:00 PM
OPINION
In last week’s MP report I discussed the voting outcome of the recent 43rd Canadian federal election that resulted in a minority government.
What exactly does a minority government mean and how might that work to serve Canadians?
The Liberals hold 157 seats, the Conservatives 121, the BLOC with 32, and the NDP 24. There is 1 independent MP and the Green Party now has 3.
The reason the seat count is critical is due to the fact that it illustrates that the Liberal Government requires only the support of one major party to either pass a budget, or have legislation approved.
While the Government has three parties they have the option of working with on a bill or budget, the same is not true for the opposition.
For the opposition to defeat a Liberal Government bill, no two parties’ combined carry enough votes to effectively block the legislation.
The only way the opposition could prevent a Government bill from going forward would be if all three parties agree to work together to block it.
For these reasons the Liberal Government will have the advantage and a fair bit of flexibility in advancing legislation, provided they work with at least one of the three major parties.
From my own perspective, we do have some challenges with each party having more representation in certain regions of Canada than others.
Last week I asked about your concerns regarding Canadian unity and received possibly the most responses to any question I have asked in my weekly reports.
There is no question many Canadians are deeply concerned including many within our region.
What happens next?
The Prime Minister has indicated he will name his new cabinet on Nov. 20.
I expect shortly after that, the Leader of the Official Opposition will present his own shadow cabinet of critics to speak on particular files and hold the government to account.
— Dan Albas is the Member of Parliament for the riding of Central Okanagan Similkameen Nicola. This riding includes the communities of Kelowna (specific boundaries), West Kelowna, Peachland, Summerland, Keremeos, Princeton, Merritt and Logan Lake.
News from © iNFOnews, 2019