Parliamentary session ends on a filibuster

Parliamentary session ends on a filibuster
By Mark Dunn, Senior National Reporter

OTTAWA - The lights dimmed on the 41st Parliament on Friday after a jam-packed session Prime Minister Stephen Harper used to teach the NDP its new role as official Opposition carries zero clout.

The heated postal debate kept MPs from scurrying to their deck umbrellas and beach attire, but the rest of the short, post-election House of Commons agenda is done.

The session underscored Harper's resolve and supporting public opinion polls that show public sector labour unrest won't be tolerated while Canada continues to crawl back from the recession.

Two back-to-work bills were swung at NDP Leader Jack Layton -- one that sent Air Canada workers back to their kiosks and another the government is using to stamp out a Canada Post strike-turned-lockout. The Opposition has denounced the measures as sucker-punching collective bargaining.

And there's the review to cut $11 billion over the next few years to balance the budget -- a move that could result in reams of public-service pink slips, and more steaming-mad unions.

"He (Harper) has forced the NDP out on an ardent pro-labour limb, which isolates them from the mainstream of the Canadian populace," said Queen's University professor and parliamentary expert Ned Franks. "It makes them look like socialists (more) than social democrats."

Other stuff happened on the fringes of this assembly of civility and decorum that could easily get lost in the filibuster by chipper New Democrats with a yen for all-nighters.

MPs elected the youngest Speaker in history, Andrew Scheer, 32, from Saskatchewan.

A new cabinet features John Baird as Canada's international emissary and axe-wielding Tony Clement in charge of balancing the books.

The government set out its agenda in a throne speech, a covered version of the Conservative election platform that called for killing the long-gun registry and reforming the Senate.

Then we had a budget, a re-gift of the March document that put an end to per-vote subsidies and set aside $2.2 billion for Quebec to harmonize its sales taxes.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May stood alone in her opposition to extending Canada's role in a NATO bombing mission in Libya.

Harper attended a G8 gathering in France, then a whirlwind trip to Greece and a surprise visit to Canadian troops in Afghanistan.

The NDP and Conservatives both had policy conventions while the Liberals held a teleconference call to delay a leadership race and policy convention.