Late sittings of P.E.I. Legislature could see more than a dozen question periods skipped

The P.E.I. Legislature is extending its sittings this week to run as late as midnight, and Green Party Leader Peter Bevan-Baker is expressing concern about what that means for government accountability.

A government motion led to the late sittings starting Wednesday evening, and the house remained in session past midnight for a total of 10 sitting hours. Thursday's session could be just as long, and with an earlier start on Friday, proceedings could stretch as long as 14 hours.

It generally takes about 15 days of debate to go through the budget, said Bevan-Baker. The motion to extend hours came on Day 10 of those debates.

"It seemed like an extreme measure," he said.

"Things are moving as normal. Nobody is holding this up. There was no sense that this was an unusual year in terms of budget deliberation. The sitting has only gone 20 days now. Last year we went 36 days. So we're just past the halfway mark of what an ordinary sitting is. So it seemed like an odd and unnecessary move to me."

Following the Progressive Conservative government motion Wednesday afternoon, the Liberals and Greens tabled a joint motion urging government not to invoke the rule that would allow the house to extend its hours. That motion was voted down.

With the exception of Sydney MacEwen, all PC MLAs voted to extend the hours.

Bevan-Baker said having MLAs work long hours instead of more days is not the best way to deal with the detailed and complicated issues in P.E.I.'s $3 billion budget, the province's largest ever.

He believes the government made the change to avoid questions.

"They don't want to be under the sort of scrutiny that only happens when the house is open," said Bevan-Baker.

"This is an example of a super majority flexing its muscle and really getting whatever it wants done, done."

The extra time being added this week — about seven hours on Wednesday, potentially the same on Thursday and 10 on Friday — is all government time. That means time devoted to government business as opposed to question period or opposition time.

Typically, government will get about seven hours a week of house time and face four question periods. The extra 22 hours of government time this week could potentially be saving ministers from facing a dozen or more question periods.

The ability to question ministers while the legislature is in session has become an increasingly important tool for holding the government accountable, said Bevan-Baker, because it is difficult for both opposition members and the media to get answers between sessions.