The Reform Act in 60 seconds
How it started and how we got here
Conservative MP Michael Chong holds a press conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa on Tuesday, December 3, 2013. Chong is introducing a bill that would give party caucuses significant powers – including the ability to vote out their leader. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
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A lot has transpired since we first sat down with Conservative MP Michael Chong to discuss his private member’s bill, the Reform Act. After much discussion and debate in the public sphere, and after Chong tabled a second version of the bill in April, the Reform Act was finally debated on the floor of the House of Commons in May. Last week, apparently in a bid to win enough support to get the bill passed at all stages, Chong proposed further changes. Whether those changes are to be cheered or lamented, the bill will return to the House for a second hour of debate on Thursday evening, with both the federal cabinet and the NDP critic ready to support it when the bills comes to its first vote next week.
We’ll have live coverage of Thursday evening’s debate, but before then, a look back at the ideas that started it all.