What does it mean to prorogue Parliament? Here’s what you need to know about Trudeau’s halting parliamentary session

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he would assign deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland to the government’s finance portfolio, taking over from Bill Morneau, who resigned from Parliament Monday in the midst of the Liberal party’s WE Charity scandal.

Trudeau later announced he’d prorogue parliament until September, which tables all bills, sessions and committee investigations — such as the one looking into the Liberal government’s handling of the WE charity scandal.

Proroguing — a stoppage of government — is a practise that can be traced back to our British colonizers, whose monarchy once used the tool to upend parliamentary sessions when they felt their control over the country was slipping too far into the hands of the parliament — a.k.a. the people.

Not unlike Trudeau’s call to prorogue government in the midst of a global pandemic, Queen Elizabeth I also stopped Parliament while the plague was sweeping through England. (The Virgin Queen, during her fourth Parliament, prorogued no fewer than 26 times over the course of its 11 years.)

For those of you unfamiliar with the historic rules surrounding the convention, we break down what proroguing government in Canada is and how it’s been used in the past.

What does it do?

Proroguing ends a session of parliament and is a fairly routine function of the Constitution. But to clear up one common misconception: it isn’t the prime minister who prorogues Parliament; it’s the Governor General. The Prime Minister, in this case Justin Trudeau, must seek out the Governor General, in this case, Julie Payette, to make the request and upon his advice, she can decide to end the session of Parliament.

It’s different from a recess and an adjournment, neither of which ends a parliamentary session. Those events can be as short as a few hours, overnight or a weekend and simply separate one sitting from the next. Prorogation is also unlike a complete dissolution, which ends a session of Parliament but also triggers an election, according to the House of Commons website.

By ending a session of Parliament, the Government can reset its priorities and set out a new agenda with a throne speech and introduce new bills for consideration in the House. It’s intended to recalibrate the government’s agenda, and some experts argue that the government’s priorities may have shifted since the governing party came to power, the Samara Centre for Democracy explains.

Historically, however, proroguing has been a tool of political convenience that minority governments have used in the midst of scandal or to avoid defeat on a confidence vote (as opponents accused Stephen Harper of doing with his proroguing in 2008 in the midst of the financial crisis, or as critics charged Jean Chrétien of using the tool in 2003 to avoid tabling of the Auditor General’s report on the sponsorship scandal).

Who can do it?

The Governor General officially calls the proroguing of Parliament for the federal government. But it can happen in both federal and provincial parliaments. In the case of the latter, it would be the monarch’s provincial representatives — the lieutenant governors — who would act on the advice of the relevant minister to end the provincial parliamentary session. It, too, wouldn’t trigger an election, but rather a resetting of the government’s agenda.

How long does it last?

There is no timeline that requires a prorogued Parliament to reconvene; and it can be anywhere from one day, as was the case in 1991, to several weeks. Since 1867, the average prorogation in Canada was 151 days, though since 1980, that has fallen to an average 22 days by 2010.

There are, however, Constitutional rules that would prevent a prorogation from lasting more than a year, as Parliaments are obligated to meet at least once every 12 months.

Can laws be passed? What happens if there’s an emergency?

New laws cannot be passed in this time period, as the cabinet is preparing to work out the plans for the next session of Parliament. If an emergency or crisis arises that would require new legislation, however, the Parliament could be recalled ahead of the date stated to be the start of the new session. This, too, would require the Governor General’s approval.

Is there a cap on how many times you can prorogue Parliament?

There has been calls to reform the unwritten conventions that surround prorogation, and a 2017 survey indicates that Canadian voters would like the laws made clearer, but currently, there are no limits to the number of times a government can ask the Governor General to end parliamentary sessions.

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That does not mean the practise is without controversy. Stephen Harper shut down the government on four different occasions over the course of seven years, Jean Chretien four times over ten years, and Brian Mulroney three times in almost nine years.

What are the effects of proroguing?

The most immediate result of proroguing Parliament is that all government bills that have not been given the green light — meaning they haven’t received royal assent — will be cleared from the table and cease to exist. Ministers would need to reintroduce these bills if they’d like to proceed with them in the new session. Alternatively, they could in some cases be reinstated, but only if the House was to adopt a motion to this effect.