Not One of the 235 Private Members’ Bills During Current Parliament Have Been Adopted.
OTTAWA, April 30, 2002 (LSN.ca) – Saskatchewan MP Garry Breitkreuz has told the media he is bracing to have the Prime Minister’s Office shut down his motion to open discussion in parliament on when human life begins. The motion is scheduled to be put to the House of Commons on May 22. “I think the government should have to listen to the views of Canadians,” said a very frustrated Mr. Breitkreuz.
Breitkreuz told the Saskatoon Star Phoenix that his frustration is fuelled by the knowledge that his motion has strong support from more than half of the 58-member Alliance caucus, many Liberals and a handful of Tories. However Liberal MPs have told him that Chretien has made clear he doesn’t want to polarize Parliament by debating the issue. “For goodness sake,” he said. “It’s our job as legislators to deal with some of these tough questions. To shy away from these things because there might be two points of view is absurd.”
Statistics show that none of the 235 private member’s bills introduced by backbenchers during the current Parliament have made it through the Commons. Moreover, only about half a dozen of the 481 private member’s motions that have been introduced have been adopted.
See the Star Phoenix article at: https://www.canada.com/saskatoon/news/story.asp?id={A7FEDDF3-1603-46B9-97B4-8AA18AB43BCA}