To be fair, the two situations are entirely different: for where the Harperites made no effort to disguise their use of omnibus bills, the Liberals have adopted the innovative technique of passing omnibus bills while denying they are doing so. Introducing his first budget bill in 2016, the comparatively svelte (179 pages) Bill C-15, Finance Minister Bill Morneau protested that it was “absolutely not an omnibus bill.” The grounds for this extraordinary claim? Indeed, omnibus budget bills as such are merely the symptom. Omnibus bills are usually defended on the grounds of necessity — how else are we going to get all of the legislation we have planned through Parliament? If you can’t enact your agenda without trampling on some ancient Parliamentary prerogatives, possibly you need to rethink your agenda.

Source: National Post April 30, 2019 00:33 UTC