Liberals Close Doors on Standing Committees

June 4, 2026 · by Admin2017 · 0

Dear Editor,

On April 23, with their new majority, the Liberal government rewrote the Standing Orders to secure control of parliamentary committees. These committees are a critical tool for holding governments to account: they compel documents, question ministers, study programs and spending, and scrutinize legislation. With a majority on every committee, the government has effectively sidelined one of the last meaningful checks on its power.

In the days leading up to this change, Liberal MPs obstructed and filibustered opposition efforts to study government spending, contracts, and potential conflicts of interest. For example, at the Veterans Affairs Committee that I am a member of, my Conservative colleague Blake Richards moved a motion on April 27 to study the impact of proposed Budget 2025 cuts on veteran services. Liberal members filibustered the motion until the meeting was adjourned, preventing any study from proceeding.
Then on April 29, at the next Veterans Affairs meeting, Liberal members cut debate on our motion in order to forced through a series of budget votes. The chair then abruptly adjourned the meeting without the consent of the committee. When I reminded the chair that she was breaking the rules, she admitted the procedures were done ‘improperly’.

We saw this undemocratic tactic of shutting down or moving in-camera at many other committees that week including:

• at Ethics Committee where Liberals blocked documents on Carney’s ethics screen and then moved the debate in-camera,

• at Science and Research Committee where the Liberal chair adjourned the meeting without consent to prevent a vote on our motion on the $200 million Liberal money pit

• at Transport Committee where Liberals shut down debate on a document production motion related to the CIB and the Montreal Port Authority and forced the committee into camera.

• at Human Resources Committee where the Liberals shut down debate on a document production motion on the CURAM/OAS scandal.

• at Health Committee where the Liberals forced Conservative PrescribeIT motions in-camera, watered down calls for an Auditor General investigations and then used their majority to block summoning the Canada Health Infoway CEO.

This is not the conduct of a government committed to transparency or accountability. It is the conduct of a government using its majority to avoid both.

At the end of the day, it is only the voters who can truly hold a government to account at the polling booth.