HOUSE LEADERS WARN GOVERNMENT: DON'T COUNT ON OUR LEGISLATIVE SUPPORT

Government House Leader Jay Hill says the government's main
legislative priorities are the next budget and economic issues.

The opposition House leaders are warning Prime Minister Stephen
Harper that he shouldn't take their cooperation for granted in the
next session and say his government has "soured" the atmosphere in
the Commons by proroguing Parliament.

"It will be quite tense," said NDP House Leader Libby Davies
(Vancouver East, B.C.) of her expectations for the resumption of
Parliament, March 3.

The NDP extended an offer to the government to restart all of the 36
bills that died on the order paper when Prime Minister Stephen Harper
(Calgary Southwest, Alta.) prorogued Parliament on Dec. 30, if he
agreed to reverse his decision and bring Parliament back when it was
scheduled to resume, Jan. 25. In order for a bill to be restarted
from where it left off it requires the unanimous consent of the
House, and Ms. Davies said Mr. Harper shouldn't count on their help
in getting his government's legislation through.

"Stephen Harper has made this decision and he has to accept the
consequences of what he's done. For him to turn around and expect the
opposition parties to rescue his legislative agenda, it's very
difficult to accept," she said.

Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale (Wascana, Sask.) echoed Ms.
Davies' sentiments, saying the Conservatives' willingness to
jeopardize their legislation flies in the face of all their public
statements about the importance of getting it passed.

"Not only have they taken about 35 bills that they kept saying were
so very important, and crucial to the country, and crucial to their
political agenda and just thrown them all down the toilet and wasted
a full year of work by committees and so forth in trying to deal with
that program, they have at the same time really soured the
atmosphere," said Mr. Goodale.

He said the government hasn't put forward any proposals on restarting
legislation as of yet, but if and when it does the Liberal Party's
cooperation would by no means be automatic.

Government House Leader Jay Hill (Prince George-Peace River, B.C.)
said the government is considering all its options to expeditiously
move its legislative agenda forward when Parliament resumes, adding
that he hopes the opposition parties will agree to restart at least
some of the bills at the stage they were at when the House prorogued.

Mr. Hill also said he hopes the atmosphere in Parliament in on March
3 will not be tense, saying he's made a "big effort" to try and
negotiate in good faith with the opposition House leaders, and
defended the prorogation as routine and necessary for the government
to take an "extended breather" to recalibrate its agenda.

"It doesn't have to be one all-encompassing motion where you say all
36 [bills] should be reinstated at the level where they were at when
Parliament prorogued. All of this can be negotiated on an individual
basis. We can have agreement on when some could be reintroduced into
this Parliament and at what stage. I expect that the views of the
other parties would vary considerably depending on what bill it was," he said.

Mr. Hill said the main legislative priority for when Parliament
returns will be the budget and economic issues. In terms of the 36
bills that died, the government intends to reintroduce Bill C-6, on
consumer product safety, as well as Bill C-15, concerning
drug-related offences, in their original forms.

"On those two in particular I would be seeking unanimity to proceed
with them at an accelerated rate," he said.

Bill C-6 was supported by the opposition parties, but was then
amended by the Senate. Bill C-15 was backed only by the Liberals and
Conservatives, and was also amended in the Senate. Ms. Davies said
her party is in favour of the Consumer Product Safety Bill, and
therefore might be receptive to restarting it from where it left off,
but since the NDP voted against C-15 originally it's unlikely they
would consent to its resumption. The Liberals, who were hammered by
the Conservatives for their Senators "gutting" the Anti-Drug Bill,
are in the midst of an internal discussion over whether to continue
their support of all elements of the government's law and order agenda.

Mr. Goodale said they would have to wait and see what the government
proposes before they make any decisions, but hinted they might come
forward with their own justice legislation to rival the government's.

"We're going to wait to see what is proposed by the government, and
when we actually have a specific proposal from them, then we will
react to it. In the meantime we will be working on our own community
safety and crime and justice proposals that will in fact be a lot
more valuable and useful to Canadians than the government's agenda," he said.

Ms. Davies said in the spring the onus will be on Mr. Harper to
demonstrate that he's committed to making Parliament work.

"I think we've seen him move a long way from that," she said.