The Governor General granted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s request to prorogue Parliament until the end of March on Monday.
When announcing his plans to resign once a new Liberal leader was elected, Trudeau also revealed that he’d received permission from the Governor General to prorogue Parliament, suspending the current session.
“This morning I advised the Governor General that we need a new session of Parliament,” said Trudeau during his resignation speech on Monday. “She has granted this request and the House will now be prorogued until March 24.”
In the context of Canada’s parliamentary democracy, prorogation is a procedure initiated by the sitting prime minister that marks the end of a session of Parliament. According to House of Commons procedure and practice, “prorogation is a prerogative act of the Crown, taken on the advice of the Prime Minister.”
“Parliament is actually prorogued either by the Governor General (or Deputy of the Governor General) in the Senate Chamber, or by proclamation published in the Canada Gazette. When Parliament stands prorogued to a certain day, a subsequent proclamation (or proclamations) may be issued to advance or defer the date,” it reads.
The main impact of ending a session via prorogation is that it brings all business on the Order Paper to a halt including bills, motions and committee work.
MPs are relieved of their Parliamentary duties until the next session is summoned, which also applies to all Parliamentary committees.
Any unfinished business of bills which have not yet been passed before prorogation takes place will be dropped or die on the Order Paper.
“Bills which have not received Royal Assent before prorogation are “entirely terminated” and, in order to be proceeded with in the new session, must be reintroduced as if they had,” reads the House of Commons procedure and practice.
“On occasion, however, bills have been reinstated by motion at the start of a new session at the same stage they had reached at the end of the previous session; committee work has similarly been revived.”
Prorogations have been employed by governments in the past but not without controversy.
The last time Parliament was prorogued was also at the hands of Trudeau in 2020 when he shut down the House of Commons during an ongoing ethics committee investigation into his involvement in the WE Charity scandal.,
During this same period, there was also a special committee investigation into China’s treatment of Uyghurs and human rights abuses, which had to be abruptly halted.
Former prime minister Stephen Harper also sought prorogation in 2008 to avoid a confidence vote.
Harper’s request was highly criticized by Trudeau at the time.
