Close X
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
ADVT 
National

Parties agree on hybrid Commons sittings

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 23 Sep, 2020 08:04 PM
  • Parties agree on hybrid Commons sittings

The House of Commons will sit this fall with most MPs participating by video link so they can stay physically apart during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Government House leader Pablo Rodriguez introduced a motion to set the rules for "hybrid" sittings as the Commons sat for the first time in months Wednesday afternoon.

Those include having MPs vote via video conference until a secure remote voting application for smartphones is ready, and reducing the number of members who have to be physically present for quorum.

The plan also includes reconstituting committees such as a special body examining Canada-China relations.

The Conservatives had argued for in-person sittings only, with limited numbers of MPs in the chamber, and had opposed electronic voting.

But the MPs present Wednesday, including Tories, approved the plan unanimously.

The arrangement is to stay in place until Dec. 11, though MPs could vote to extend it then.

MORE National ARTICLES

Construction on Vancouver subway to begin this fall

Construction on Vancouver subway to begin this fall
British Columbia Premier John Horgan says work will begin this fall and the line will be in service in 2025.

Construction on Vancouver subway to begin this fall

UVic to build national Indigenous law centre

UVic to build national Indigenous law centre
Melanie Mark, B.C.'s minister of advanced education, says the school will train a generation of Indigenous legal scholars.

UVic to build national Indigenous law centre

Fentanyl, $100,000 in cash seized in Surrey, B.C.

Fentanyl, $100,000 in cash seized in Surrey, B.C.
Officers discovered 3.1 kilograms of fentanyl, 225 grams of cocaine, oxycodone pills and over $100,000 in cash.

Fentanyl, $100,000 in cash seized in Surrey, B.C.

N.B. Liberals promise subsidy for home renos

N.B. Liberals promise subsidy for home renos
While campaigning Thursday in Oromocto, N.B., Kevin Vickers said the program will focus on promoting energy efficiency to help homeowners reduce their monthly bills.

N.B. Liberals promise subsidy for home renos

Lawsuit against makers of burst Montreal-area dike

Lawsuit against makers of burst Montreal-area dike
The dike burst on April 27, 2019, forcing some 6,500 people from their homes without notice.

Lawsuit against makers of burst Montreal-area dike

Virus kneecapped Canadian confidence: Poll

Virus kneecapped Canadian confidence: Poll
Sixty-one per cent of Canadians who took part in the Pew Research Center survey released Thursday described the country's current economic situation as bad, more than twice the 27 per cent who said the same thing last year.

Virus kneecapped Canadian confidence: Poll