Liberals accept Tory budget changes on sweeping cabinet power proposals

Some members of Parliament have expressed discomfort with the idea of granting such sweeping powers to cabinet in the interest of boosting competitive or economic forces.

The federal Liberals accepted a Conservative proposal Monday to put guardrails around proposed new cabinet powers as they debated the government’s omnibus budget bill.

The Liberal government’s budget implementation legislation, Bill C-15, proposes to give federal ministers the ability to temporarily exempt individuals or corporations from some non-criminal federal laws — an approach the government refers to as “regulatory sandboxes.”

Some members of Parliament have expressed discomfort with the idea of granting such sweeping powers to cabinet in the interest of boosting competitive or economic forces.

Both interim NDP leader Don Davies and Green Leader Elizabeth May appeared at Monday’s finance committee meeting, where MPs were going clause by clause through the legislation.

Davies said such a ministerial override would present a “serious threat to Canada’s democratic foundations.”

“Shame on you,” May said after committee members did not adopt her own amendment to restrict the application of regulatory sandboxes.

Conservative MP and committee member Sandra Cobena said she was concerned about the “immense concentration of power” implied in the proposal. She introduced amendments that she said would “meet the urgency of the moment” while balancing democratic standards.

The successful amendments, backed by Liberal members of the committee, included a requirement for ministers to consult with Canadians before ordering any legal exemptions, and to report back to Parliament.