Feb. 10th is fast approaching... the day the spring session of the legislature opens with the throne speech. The spring session always opens with the speech from the throne, a fundamental of parliament that - once translated from PRspeak - gives us at least a sense of the direction government intends to take during the coming session. Last fall, the session also opened with a speech from the throne. Now, a fall session in British Columbia is unusual in the first place, but a fall throne speech - while not unheard of - doesn't always happen either. So the "why" of a fall throne speech had tongues wagging.
Not for long, though.
It quickly became clear the government needed to pass two vital LNG bills, the Liquefied Natural Gas Income Tax Act and the Greenhouse Industrial Reporting Control Act. The problem was it didn't have enough other legislation to keep the house busy for two months.
So what to do, you ask? Well, we'll have a fall session that starts with a speech from the throne. And then all those slow days can be filled with speakers responding to the throne speech.
The government did introduce a few other pieces of legislation, but it always had continued debate on an empty throne speech to fill in the blanks.
The throne speech is debated in much the same manner as legislation - with the exception that it does not go to committee stage (clause-by-clause debate). Normally, the government and opposition house leaders determine how much time is allotted to any particular bill, as well as the throne speech, and members who wish to speak are put on a list.
The house leaders, if necessary, control the numbers on the list to ensure the time limit is adhered to. As an independent, I am not accountable to either house leader and I always have the opportunity to speak, although I do try to cooperate and will generally add my name to the list (it keeps things organized and avoids surprises, which is a good thing in Victoria).
Generally, speakers alternate between government and opposition, but as time gets tight, government
MLAs will often not speak at all or will stand for only a few minutes.
I suspect that is also part of the bargaining process between the house leaders: the opposition perhaps agreeing to the time limitation only if its members have the opportunity to speak.
But there was no limitation to any speaker's opportunity last fall: time had to be filled and most government MLAs responded to the throne speech.
But Feb. 10th begins a new session, which I look forward to and have no doubt will be interesting. I hope to write more often about the legislation being debated. I also hope the throne speech will be visionary and that it will truly grasp B.C.'s full potential.
I believe that great leadership is needed if B.C. is to flourish during the coming years.
