Welcome to the Zombie House of Commons.

The House of Commons is dead. It's not getting anything done. It's been dead for more than six weeks. Has anyone noticed? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

A live shot of the House of Commons in session. Image source: Henrik L on Unsplash.

The House of Commons hasn’t accomplished much in the last six weeks. A procedural complaint from the Conservative Party has tied up parliamentary business, stalling bills and the government’s agenda, burning time until the next federal election officially begins (it’s already unofficially well under way).

The deadlock is the product of a Conservative parliamentary privilege complaint. The Tories want the government to share documents with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police relating to the Sustainable Development Technology Canada affair — a $1 billion green fund that had been around since 2021. Until recently. The Liberals killed it in the summer after the auditor general tore it to shreds, citing 90 violations of its own conflict of interest policies, general incompetence, and the funding of projects that were, wait for it, not eligible for funding. Oops.

The Conservatives call the SDTC a “green slush fund.” They say they want the government to hand over the documents, but one gets the sense they’re happy for the issue to remain front and centre, painting the Liberals as corrupt and keeping them from advancing their parliamentary agenda. The government said they can’t hand over the documents — any more than they already had — for constitutional reasons.

Since matters of privilege take precedence over most House business, little else is getting done in the Commons beyond debating and otherwise managing this kerfuffle. The government can’t end the blockade without support from another party, since they don’t have a majority. And, so far, no one has stepped up to join with the Liberals to end the showdown. And in this political environment, ahead of the election, why would they? No party wants to look complicit in a “cover up.”

The details of the issue itself, the failed program and the legal aspects to the document disclosure, are interesting, but that’s not what I’m concerned about here. Rather, I’m more interested in the fact that the House has effectively shut down and hasn’t been much of an issue for those who don’t live and die by the news cycle. I’m willing to bet most people don’t even know the House has ground to a halt — or that it is effectively a dead Parliament walking.

Perhaps it’s the US election, coupled with brutal global conflict, and the fact that most people are struggling to get through the day right now. The SDTC affair is a bit arcane, after all. But it’s an extraordinary moment in the Commons, an indication that the Conservatives are cynical, the government is moribund, and the other opposition parties are stuck in the middle. At six weeks and counting, you’d expect at some point Canadians would ask “Hey, what are our election officials up to…” and, upon learning the answer, have some strong feelings they’d be keen to share.

Last month, I warned that we were in for a year of a dysfunctional Parliament, with everyone already campaigning and the government too weak to fend off challenges inside and outside the House. The blue side wants and election, the red side doesn’t, and the orange side isn’t ready for one, though they’re treating the government as if they have no confidence in it. So, with that dynamic in place, we get the worst of all worlds.

Sensing the government’s weakness and preparing for the official campaign in the months to come, the Tories have gone all-in on attacks and obstructionism. That is bad for governance and ought not to be rewarded, but it probably will be because people are tired of the Liberals and they’re not paying a tonne of attention to the day-to-day antics in the Commons. But do we really believe that if the roles were reversed, we might not see something similar from the other side? I think we would. And will, in the future, when the tables are turned.

Parliament is becoming more partisan (of the toxic variety) both in the House chamber and at committees. Conflict is a good and necessary part of democracy, but conflict can be productive, destructive in a productive sense, or simply destructive for its own sake. We’re getting more of the third thing, which seems to be a rising phenomenon — one which might be here to stay. Which is a shame. Because I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we have…some problems that need fixing.

The current de facto general purpose filibuster may come to an end soon or it may drag out, but either way, expect more of the same for the foreseeable future. This Parliament is, as they say, cooked. It’s done. It’s an ersatz Parliament. The walking dead. A Zombie. And we’re stuck burning money and time while it lurches from day to day, waiting to be put out of its misery when the next election rolls around and we can begin the process of decay and collapse anew.