Pandemic no excuse to forsake legislature Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Thursday, Jun. 4, 2020

Opinion

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This article was published 03/06/2020 (1569 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a wide and alarming array of problems for government. Slowing the spread of a virulent disease, saving the treasury from implosion, sustaining a health-care system under siege and propping up a deeply wounded economy are challenges so big and unwieldy that they defy normal solutions.

However, among those enormous and often intractable challenges, keeping our democratic institutions healthy and functioning should be relatively easy. Even with restrictions on the number of people who can gather in one place and other restrictions designed to stem the COVID-19 tide, it is possible to keep a legislative assembly up and running to oversee a government’s response to the pandemic.

All of which raises the question: why has Premier Brian Pallister shut down Manitoba’s legislature, particularly at a time when he is reopening much of the rest of the province?

It is hard to level an accusation of “laziness” at a leader who has stayed stoically at his post and made almost daily appearances at news conferences to outline pandemic responses. And yet, his decision to suspend legislative business until this fall – the next scheduled sitting is not until October – certainly seems like a lazy decision.

There are nearly 50 individual pieces of proposed legislation before the assembly awaiting scrutiny and debate. More importantly, there were plans to spend many hours scrutinizing the government’s budget plan for this year through the estimates process.

There are nearly 50 individual pieces of proposed legislation before the assembly awaiting scrutiny and debate. More importantly, there were plans to spend many hours scrutinizing the government’s budget plan for this year through the estimates process.

Suspending legislative activities opens up the possibility that Mr. Pallister will have to dramatically abridge the amount of time the legislature spends debating bills and scouring the budget this fall. Even with a majority, that is a dangerous and unacceptable scenario. There is little doubt that COVID-19 is a crisis that has totally eclipsed the machinery of government. That is not a valid excuse for abandoning the legislature.

There is no legislature in this land – provincial or federal – that is operating on a normal schedule. But many are making an attempt, and employing various public health measures and technologies, to create opportunities to vet, debate and vote on both pandemic and non-pandemic government business. As they should.

There is no legislature in this land– provincial or federal – that is operating on a normal schedule. But many are making an attempt, and employing various public health measures and technologies, to create opportunities to vet, debate and vote on both pandemic and non-pandemic government business. As they should.

Mr. Pallister’s ambivalence towards the Manitoba legislature and the opposition parties could be a sign that – as has been widely rumoured – he is not long for provincial politics. Although he has bristled at suggestions that he will retire well before the next election, scheduled now for the fall of 2023, it is hard to look at his decision to suspend the legislature as anything other than a sign that he may be reaching the limits of his interest in his current job.

Like all Canadians, we need strong and effective political leadership at a time when we all have so little control over our fates. However, in this instance, strong and effective leadership must be accompanied by a willingness to maintain the integrity of institutions like the legislature.

If the suspension of sittings is an indication that Mr. Pallister is readying himself for an early departure, it would be best for all Manitobans that he pass the torch to another leader who sees value in resuming legislative activities as soon as humanly possible.