Imagine if, during an argument with family members at a lovely and combative holiday dinner, you had the power to legally shut everyone right the heck up.
Well, that's sort of what the federal government has done with its mammoth elections bill, C-76.
With not much time left on the clock for this parliamentary session, the government is keen to push through the omnibus bill so that its changes can apply for the 2019 election. After four days of preliminary debate, the Liberals figured they had to give the bill a bit of a push.
So the feds cast a procedural spell called time allocation, which effectively cut off debate on the topic and, after a vote, moved the bill along to committee. And just like your family in our little hypothetical exercise above, opposition MPs are not lovin' it.
On the seventh episode of "Backbenchers," we explore how time allocation works and look at the pushback it created. Then we dive into Ontario's election campaign, which has given us quite the dramatic storyline in the rise of the provincial NDP.
Watch the full episode embedded above.
Stories referenced in this episode:
Missed the last episode? Watch it here.
Catch "Backbenchers" every other Tuesday, right here on HuffPost Canada.