Will MPs break for the holidays early? Liberal House leader ‘optimistic’

While MPs are scheduled to stick around until Friday to finish off the fall sitting, Government House Leader Mark Holland says he’s “optimistic” about the Commons adjourning on Wednesday.

“I think that we’ve had a very productive parliamentary session. I am optimistic that the parliamentary session could finish today,” Holland told reporters on his way in to a Liberal caucus meeting on Wednesday morning.

It’s not uncommon for MPs to unanimously agree to wrap up their work in Ottawa a few days ahead of the holidays, depending on the status ofkey government bills, as well as how much tension there is between the parties after weeks of consecutive sittings.

While the Liberals have managed to pass most of the legislation they made a priority at the outset of the fall sitting—from the dental and rental benefit bill, to the GST tax credit boost—other bills they wanted to see advance have been mired in political controversy and wrangling over amendments.

For example, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino’s gun control legislation Bill C-21 is held up at a House committee and faces further scrutiny over a contentious amendment to considerably expand the number of firearms that would be prohibited.

Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez’s online streaming legislation Bill C-11 also remains before the Senate and is likely destined to be bounced back to the House in the new year given the degree of changes the upper chamber has made.

While MPs may be looking to get out of Ottawa a bit early, the Senate is scheduled to sit until Dec. 22. Among the key bills they will be looking to pass before adjourning for the holidays is Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s fall economic update implementation legislation, Bill C-32.

This week’s legislative agenda took somewhat of a backseat after the death of Liberal MP and former minister Jim Carr on Monday. Following question period on Wednesday afternoon, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be delivering remarks as part of a tribute to the late politician. Trudeau will then be speaking to Liberal loyalists at the party’s Christmas confab.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre kicked off his day with an end-of-sitting speech to his caucus, where he capped off his first stretch of parliamentary work with him at the helm of the party by delivering a laundry list of ways he thinks Trudeau and the federal Liberals are failing and how he thinks Conservatives could do better.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is slated to be giving his own pre-holiday remarks on Parliament Hill Wednesday afternoon follow his caucus’ meeting.

Once the House of Commons does adjourn, MPs are not scheduled to be back in the nation’s capital until Jan. 30.