PROROGUE OF PARLIAMENT THREATENS HIGH-PROFILE BILLS

Prime Minister expected to adjourn Commons before leadership vote

OTTAWA -- Much of the legislative agenda Jean Chretien promised to deliver
only two months ago is now in danger, with the clock ticking down on
several bills likely to be killed by his widely expected move to shut down
the Commons early.

More than half of the nine bills the Prime Minister listed as his highest
priorities could be quashed if he shuts down the Commons at the end of next
week.

Although Mr. Chretien has refused to comment, senior government officials
expect he will adjourn or prorogue Parliament before the Nov. 14 Liberal
leadership vote, probably on Nov. 7, to avoid the embarrassment of sitting
in the Commons alongside Paul Martin when he becomes Liberal leader.

The endangered bills include ones aimed at decriminalizing marijuana,
revamping family law and toughening sanctions for stock-market fraud, as
well as the long-awaited bill inspired by the 1992 Westray mine disaster
that holds companies criminally responsible for negligence that injures or
kills employees.

Mr. Chretien's loosening grip on Liberal backbenchers and senators is also
threatening parts of his agenda. A bill that would ban human cloning and
regulate reproductive technology is expected to squeak through the Commons
today, with New Democrats siding with the government as some Liberals vote
against it. But it could now fail to pass the Senate, even if Parliament
sits through the fall.

Yesterday, a bill to create ethics commissioners for the Commons and Senate
passed an interim stage under heavy pressure from the Prime Minister's
Office -- with six Liberal senators abstaining and several members of the
upper chamber threatening to delay it in committee hearings.

Mr. Chretien's government has passed 22 bills since the Prime Minister
announced 15 months ago that he would retire in 2004. But many could die if
he moves to prorogue Parliament before the normal adjournment date of Dec. 12.

In August, at a meeting of the Liberal caucus in North Bay, Ont., Mr.
Chretien implored Liberals to hold together to pass the nine key bills.
Most of those could now die.

The Westray bill, sparked by the 1992 Nova Scotia disaster that killed 26
miners, was finally expected to become law -- 11 years after the accident
itself and six years after a public inquiry concluded that such a law is
needed. New Democrat MP Alexa McDonough said it would be "unacceptable" to
see it "deep-sixed."

Chretien spokesman Steven Hogue suggested that the onus could be on Mr.
Martin to complete parts of the Prime Minister's agenda, but would not say
whether Mr. Chretien intends to shut the Commons early.

"He has a number of priorities that he laid out in his speech in North Bay.
Obviously, if the House is prorogued, the bills can be brought back to
life, so it does not mean that a bill is dead. It's obvious that we will
try to pass as many as we can, among the priorities laid out in North Bay."

All bills on the parliamentary agenda die when Parliament is prorogued. In
theory, Mr. Martin's government could revive them if the Commons resumes
sitting before an election.

The government could also decide to adjourn the Commons next week, leaving
the Senate sitting so it can complete the bills already passed by the
Commons. The family law bill, the Westray bill and the stock-market fraud
bill might all fail to pass the Commons before Nov. 7, or could arrive in
the Senate too late to be passed.

Government House Leader Don Boudria made it clear that the Commons would
have to sit past next week to pass the bill to decriminalize marijuana as
it would require "a couple of weeks of witnesses" at committee hearings.

If Parliament is prorogued, none of the substantive bills not already
before the Commons will pass the Senate, senators from both sides said
yesterday. Even if only the Commons is adjourned and the Senate continues
until December, major, controversial bills like the human-reproduction bill
and the decriminalization of marijuana bill are unlikely to be passed
before the Christmas break -- meaning they would die.

Some in the government were pointing fingers at the Senate yesterday. As
one official said, "they haven't passed a goddamn bill this fall."

But Progressive Conservative Senator John Lynch-Staunton, the opposition
leader in the Senate, said opposition senators see no reason to speed up
the agenda to save Mr. Chretien from political embarrassment.

"I think the government's game now is to send all their so-called priority
bills to the Senate and blame the Senate for not acting on them," he said.