CHRETIEN LEGISLATION IN LIMBO

Unpassed Bills At Martin's Mercy

The House of Commons has spent its last working day of the Jean Chretien
era, leaving some major bills unpassed and their fate squarely in the hands
of prime minister-in-waiting Paul Martin.

As MPs left Ottawa yesterday, legislation to create a more powerful ethics
commissioner to oversee Parliamentary conflict-of-interest laws, a key
piece of Chretien's legacy, was added to the unfinished list.

The bill had been passed by the Commons, but the Senate added a surprise
amendment yesterday, which means the Commons has to pass the bill again
before it can become law.

The Senate then adjourned to Nov. 17. It's expected the Commons will
prorogue -- ending the session -- that day, leaving a backlog of
legislation in limbo.

"We're obviously disappointed," said Jim Munson, Chretien's spokesman. "If
the House prorogues, the new leader will have to decide what to do about
this in the new year."

Duff Conacher, of Democracy Watch, condemned the Senate amendment of the
ethics bill:

"Senators are so drunk on their own unaccountable power that they're
incapable of sober second thought when it comes to enforcement of ethics
rules for senators."

The Commons has its own list of unfinished business, including:

* A bill to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, an
initiative Justice Minister Martin Cauchon had heralded as long overdue.

* Legislation to revamp aboriginal self-government, a measure Chretien
trumpeted upon its introduction but quietly backed away from after it met
bitter opposition from many First Nations.

* A reform of drug patent laws to ease the shipment of AIDS medication and
other desperately needed pharmaceuticals to developing countries.

* A measure to tighten child pornography laws by limiting the defence of
artistic merit, a move applauded by law-and-order advocates but denounced
by civil libertarians.

In theory, the House is just taking a one-week break. In practice, nobody
expects it to reconvene as scheduled Nov. 17.

That's because Martin will be confirmed as Liberal leader by a party
convention next Thursday. Chretien is poised to call an end to the
parliamentary session after that, to avoid returning to the Commons as a
lame duck, though the murky status of the ethics commissioner bill may make
that difficult.

The Senate faces a slate of bills that have already passed the lower house,
but won't get to them if the session ends.

They include legislation creating seven new Commons seats -- two in British
Columbia, two in Alberta and three in Ontario -- in time for a general
election expected next spring.

Also on the agenda is a long-promised initiative to establish a national
sex offender registry to help police keep track of potential predators.

The upper house is also reviewing legislation to outlaw human cloning and
regulate embryonic stem cell research.

Under parliamentary rules, any bills that haven't passed both houses will
die upon prorogation. There is a simple procedure, however, for the
government to resurrect them once a new session starts.

Chretien alluded to that earlier this week, insisting an end to the current
session doesn't really mean an end to all the work in progress.

"When you write that the bills disappear that's not correct," the prime
minister told reporters. "The bills are generally reinstated."

The catch is it's a Martin-led government that will decide whether to
reinstate them when a new session starts in February.

Cauchon has expressed hope the marijuana bill will be among those revived,
but there has been no word from Martin aides on whether that will happen.

Survival of the native self-government bill is slim. Martin has voiced
misgivings. But he has expressed support for the AIDS drug initiative, the
ethics commissioner bill and the new Commons seats.