Just days after gaining control of parliamentary committees, the federal Liberals are opting for closed-door meetings, limiting transparency in their proceedings.
Liberal members at four committees – ethics, health, science, and transport – have chosen to conduct government business in camera, preventing opposition MPs from publicly discussing the discussions held behind closed doors.
The Conservatives have criticized this move as undemocratic.
Conservative ethics critic Michael Barrett expressed concerns on Wednesday, stating, “It’s going to make it more difficult for us to bring that accountability to bear, and that’s a choice that Liberals have made.”
At a veterans affairs committee meeting, Liberal members swiftly voted on main estimates and then unilaterally adjourned the session, effectively halting further debate on a Conservative proposal to examine the impact of the 2025 budget on veterans, despite objections from the Conservative party.
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Analysis
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“I think that’s something that deserves to be looked at on behalf of veterans, and what happened today is the Liberals shut down the meeting without even letting us vote on whether we would have the ability to study that on behalf of veterans,” said Conservative Veterans Affairs critic Blake Richards in a video posted online.
Recently, the science and research committee transitioned to an in-camera session at the request of the Liberals to discuss “drafting instructions” for a study, a process conducted privately.
Meanwhile, discussions at the ethics committee led to a vote by Liberal members to move in camera after a Conservative motion that would have mandated the Privy Council Office to provide regular updates on the prime minister’s ethics screen.
Similarly, at the transport committee, Liberals halted debate on a motion regarding documents related to the Port of Montreal expansion before shifting to an in-camera setting.
In the health committee, talks about investigating a $300-million program called PrescribeIT were moved in camera. The program, initiated in 2017 to modernize doctors’ offices, has reportedly seen less than five percent of prescriptions being sent using PrescribeIT, as per reports in the Globe and Mail.
Conservative Health critic Dan Mazier remarked, “We were going to ask the auditor general to come in and do an investigation