The House of Commons Conservative majority approved in principle the government’s mammoth budget implementation bill yesterday after just five days of debate.
The bill stretches to more than 400 pages and changes provisions in more than 60 other existing acts.
Included is Canada Grain Act and amendments that will significantly change the powers of the Canadian Grain Commission and lead to higher fee-for-service charges for farmers and the grain industry.
Despite protests from opposition MPs, Conservative MPs voted to sharply limit debate on the huge bill. However, the government agreed to allow various sections to be studied by committees with competence in the policy field.
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It means the Grain Act provisions of the budget bill have now been referred to the Commons agriculture committee for study. Hearings begin during the evening of Nov. 6.
With the government anxious to get its budget bill into law in November, the agriculture committee will have little time to hold public hearings, cramming as many witnesses as it can into several four-hour evening meetings.
However, opposition members of the committee say they are happy to at least have some public meetings on Canadian Grain Commission changes. Initially, the government plan was to send the entire bill to the finance committee, where MPs would have had little expertise in the various changes being made.
Hearings are expected to begin with testimony from CGC chief commission Elwin Hermanson.
