What's next for electoral reform?
The two vice-chairs of the House of Commons special committee on electoral reform are pushing the Liberal government to consult them before introducing any legislation this spring.
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Despite recent controversies around the committee's report and the Mydemocracy.ca survey, Minister of Democratic Institutions Mayam Monsef has said the government's goal is still to implement a new voting system for 2019 if broad support is found.
"If you want to work on a bill, let's do it together," NDP MP Nathan Cullen told Mark Holland, parliamentary secretary to the minister of democratic institutions, on The House.
"But don't craft legislation based on some vague survey that has been discredited and then say, 'Here it is House of Commons. This is what we decided based on our interpretation.' Which I think is the point."
The special committee's majority report proposed that the current first-past-the-post system be pitted against a proportional representation option, though the New Democrats and Greens suggested a referendum might not be necessary and no agreement was reached on a specific proposal for a new system.
Holland says he'll willing to meet with the committee, but Cullen pushed for more than just that.
"We've had meetings where nothing happens. I want to have a meeting where you actually sit down with paper and start to say, 'Here are the elements of a legislative bill to fulfil the prime minister's commitment. Let's work together on it. Don't tell me about meetings and cups of coffee," he said.
Conservative MP Scott Reid says the Opposition will be upset if the government brings them anything that doesn't include what their committee recommended.
"That's what we're interested in hearing about. If you've got something else in mind then you're not working with us," he said in a heated panel discussion. "In the end it's either a yes or a no."
"The government has this absurd position where they say things like, the prime minister has a preferred system, the minister has a preferred system. We're not going to share it with you, it's a big secret. How on earth can we guess what happens now?"
Holland says the Liberals will disclose their preferred system once the survey period ends at the end of December.
"But for us to proclaim ourselves in the middle of a public engagement would negate the public engagement," he said.
Trump might be 'starting to realize' that climate change policies is in America's best interests
A key member of Congress is willing to give U.S. president-elect Donald Trump a chance on climate change... for now.
"Given the comments from the president-elect that he now has an open mind about climate change, our hope is that he'll see the bipartisan support in the House and recognize that it's reflective of what's happening around the country," Democratic congressman Ted Deutch told CBC Radio's The House.
Deutch co-chairs the Climate Solutions Caucus, a bipartisan group in the House of Representatives. He was referring to Trump's recent comments about climate change to the New York Times that he has "an open mind to it. We're going to look very carefully."
Trump had previously referred to climate change as a "hoax" perpetrated by the Chinese to make U.S. manufacturing less competitive.
"I think probably what he's realizing is that to simply walk away from commitments the United States has made doesn't strengthen the United States, it doesn't strengthen our economy, it doesn't put us in a better position relative to others around the world," Deutch said.
"It's in America's interests to be serious about climate change. Maybe that's what he's starting to realize."
But the Florida congressman quickly pointed out that he needs to see what Trump's policies will be before truly passing judgement.
"We'll see what direction the White House chooses to go," Deutch said.
In the meantime, he said his caucus will push for items that tend to have bipartisan appeal such as infrastructure adaptation, modernizing the electricity grid, and tax breaks for innovation.
His tone regarding the controversial incoming president was similar to the one adopted by Canada's Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna, last week on The House.
She downplayed concerns that a Trump presidency will negatively impact Canada-U.S. co-operation on the environment.
"You saw positive comments from Donald Trump," McKenna said, noting that Trump has committed to taking another look at the Paris agreement.
"He said he just wanted to make sure that policies were competitive, didn't impact on the U.S. competitiveness. I think about that all the time with the policies that we are looking at," McKenna told The House.
"It's about competitiveness. It's about creating jobs. It's about making investments to grow the economy... I know those are what the next administration is looking for."