Will Harper Get Credit From Opposition Benches

Senate hijacking of accountability act results in final passage
Friday, December 8. 2006

Accountability act unanimously waived through Commons

The House of Commons unanimously accepted an amended accountability act Friday with some 90 changes.

The Conservative government's showpiece legislation passed through the House without a recorded vote Friday and is now set to get royal assent and pass into law early next week. The bill received all-party support. Treasury Board President John Baird did not dispute that the bill is improved as a result of the Senate examination, which involved dozens of witnesses commenting over weeks of hearings this autumn.

The "one disappointment," Baird said of the amended legislation, is that it no longer includes a move to a single ethics officer for both the Commons and the upper chamber.

Senators strongly objected to that provision because the two houses are supposed to be independent of one another in Canada's parliamentary system.

Apart from that, Baird said outside the Commons, "this bill is a heck of a lot stronger than it was when we introduced it on April 11. If anything, it's tougher - so we're proud of that."

New Democrat MP Pat Martin, one of the staunchest supporters of the government bill, called it an "accomplishment we can be quite proud of."

"We achieved significant improvements on things like whistleblower protection, eliminating patronage appointments and tying a cowbell around lobbyists' necks," Martin said in a release.