_MK_ said:
Are you all expecting this to take a day or two for some reason?
Nothing in government works like that. It is the job of these senators to question and they will do it.
Just be patient. We already waited over a year now. What's another few months. Dont expect this to take any less than 4-5 sittings at the least.
Also, once they pass it which they will eventually, Parliament will likely debate the amendment, even if it to say they support the amendment. That is how it goes.
If you are hoping someone will say no debate just vote, you are asking to go back to Harper era politics.
The problem isn't actually that there is a debate. I agree, that's how parliaments work. The Opposition has a right to have their voice heard. The actual problem are the archaic rules of business that the Senate has.
In the HoC, they allocate X hours for the debate, then the Government and the Opposition both send their speakers in and they can say all they want. That usually takes one or maybe two days and then the vote happens.
In the Senate, one single senator speaks on an issue per day, then some other senator can hold the debate indefinitely and then say something days or weeks later. This can hardly be called a debate.
I would be all OK with the Conservative Senators voicing their concerns. But it's just stupid that they don't say "OK on March 8th, we allocate 30 minutes of speaking time to the conservatives, and 30 minutes to the liberals and 30 mins to the Independents. Now please speak" Then everyone can speak and raise their concerns. Then they vote.
For me, no matter if from the perspective of a Liberal, a Conservative or an Independent, I don't see why they have this procedure of dragging it out over weeks, one speech per week. I mean by the time the next senator speaks on the subject, most of them have already forgotten what the last one said a month ago. How is that a debate?