House Gridlock Could Delay Federal Spending, Treasury Board President Warns

Minister Anita Anand speaks to media at the federal ministers cabinet retreat in Halifax on Aug. 27, 2024. Kelly Clark/The Canadian Press

New federal expenditures needing Parliament’s approval could be in limbo with House of Commons routine business being stalled, Treasury Board President Anita Anand has cautioned.

Anand tabled the budget’s second Supplementary Estimates on Nov. 18, which requires MPs to authorize spending of more than $20 billion in the next few weeks.

“We do need to ensure money is able to flow,” she said on Nov. 19, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. “We are OK for the next three to four weeks but we need to make sure money flows.”

The Supplementary Estimates represent an increase in spending of $24.8 billion, with $21.6 billion needing approval from Parliament. The remaining $3.2 billion is already part of statutory expenditures.

The big spending items include $2.24 billion for First Nations and Inuit services, $970.8 million to increase the wages of public servants following negotiated salary adjustments, and $1.53 billion for military procurement.

Anand said there is a possibility the estimates won’t be adopted. “They do require a vote to pass and there is no way for the government to simply pull the rug out from under the House of Commons,” she said.

The House of Commons has mostly been at a standstill since late September, with no bills being studied or voted on.

“There is no vote, not at all,” said Anand. “That is extraordinary. We must vote on these.”

House Speaker Greg Fergus ruled on Sept. 26 the opposition could table a question of privilege motion regarding the government’s failure to abide by a June House order requesting the production of all documents related to the federal green fund, Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC).

MPs voted to transfer the documents to the RCMP following the auditor general’s discovery that the SDTC, which funds businesses involved in green projects, was rife with conflicts of interests.

The auditor general’s report, released in early June, found “significant lapses” in SDTC’s “governance and stewardship of public funds.” It identified 88 cases of conflicts of interest involving directors and found millions allocated to ineligible projects.

The federal government responded to the report by beginning a process to dissolve SDTC by transferring its programs under the National Research Council.

Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer noted Nov. 19 the government has yet to supply the full SDTC records as requested, despite the privilege motion he tabled being on the House agenda since late September.

“They’re literally keeping some documents away from the RCMP and hiding, covering up, and redacting many of these documents,” he said, referencing a letter received from the House law clerk.

Scheer said the onus is on the government to comply with the House order if its wants to move ahead with other business such as the approval of expenditures.

“The Speaker has ruled that no other business can take place until this order has been complied with,” he said. “The Trudeau Liberals are choosing not to comply with this order, so it’s really up to them.”

Government House Leader Karina Gould said on Nov. 19 Conservatives should “stop playing their silly, partisan, procedural games and let us all get back to the work of this place.”

Gould said the government has already provided nearly 29,000 pages of documents related to SDTC, while doing so in compliance with the charter and in a way that “protects police independence and separation of powers in our country.”