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John Baird, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, announces that parliament will return June 2nd on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Monday May 16, 2011. (Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS) Government House Leader John Baird announces that Parliament will resume on Thursday, June 2 at a press conference in Ottawa on Monday, May 16, 2011.

Parliament to resume June 2 to elect Speaker

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CTV News Video

Power Play: John Baird, house leader
Government House Leader John Baird discusses what will be the focus of the government when Parliament resumes, and whether there will be changes to the budget.
CTV News Channel: House Leader John Baird
Government House Leader John Baird announces that Parliament will return on June 2, 2011, with Governor General David Johnston reading the throne speech on the following day.
CTV News Channel: Don Martin, host
The host of CTV's 'Power Play' says it is yet to be seen how Prime Minister Stephen Harper will deal with the opposition when his majority government returns to Parliament, but he has shown a sunnier disposition since winning the election.

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John Baird, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, announces that parliament will return June 2nd on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Monday May 16, 2011. (Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS) Government House Leader John Baird announces that Parliament will resume on Thursday, June 2 at a press conference in Ottawa on Monday, May 16, 2011.

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John Baird, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, announces that parliament will return June 2nd on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Monday May 16, 2011. (Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

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Date: Mon. May. 16 2011 9:20 PM ET

Canada's post-election political lull will soon come to an end, as Parliament resumes sitting on Thursday, June 2, Government House Leader John Baird confirmed.

Baird said in a press conference on Monday that the House of Commons will first elect a Speaker, and return the following day for the throne speech.

The Conservatives, with their newfound majority, are expected to quickly introduce a number of big-ticket pieces of legislation, including their omnibus crime bill and a plan to kill the long-gun registry.

But it is the economy, which the party campaigned on heavily during the election, that will be on the forefront, Baird said.

"Our majority Conservative government will focus this first session entirely on the priorities of Canadians," he said. "We will make good on the promises we made during the election campaign. The minister of finance will reintroduce our budget and the next phase of Canada's economic action plan can finally begin to be implemented."

Baird did not say when the budget would be introduced, saying that would be left for the finance minister to announce.

"We've always been clear, we'd reintroduce the same budget if given a majority government, but obviously there may be a little bit of tweaking with the passing of time that is required," he told CTV's Power Play. "We ran on this budget, we think it's a good budget."

Baird also deferred on saying when the crime bills would be introduced.

But he did say "the long-gun registry is wasteful . . . and I think that you will see the government follow through on our commitment (to scrap it.)"

In a statement announcing the return of Parliament, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said "the economy remains our Government's top priority and we will move quickly to implement the Next Phase of Canada's Economic Action Plan."

He added, "Canada is emerging from the global recession as one of the top-performing advanced economies in the world, but the recovery remains fragile and Canadians continue to worry about their jobs and economic future."

The prime minister also went on to suggest the government's forward-looking plan.

"Our strong, stable, national Government will implement our low-tax plan for jobs and growth – one that strengthens the financial security of Canadian workers, seniors and families and lays the foundation for our long-term economic prosperity," he said.

Governor General David Johnston's speech to the Senate will lay out the agenda of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's first majority government, and set the stage for the Conservatives to table their budget plan the following week.

Now that Harper's Conservatives control a majority of the seats in the House of Commons, and would therefore have little trouble passing their budget, their new fiscal plan is expected to closely mirror the one that died when the election writ dropped in late March.

Other immediate priorities for Canada's next federal government include the appointment of a new cabinet. Although there is widespread speculation that Harper will retain some of his senior ministers in the same roles they held before the election, at least 6 portfolios, including foreign affairs and the treasury board, have seen their ministers depart due to retirement or electoral defeat.

Members of Parliament will also have to elect a new Speaker of the House to replace the now-retired Peter Milliken.

Harper's Conservatives emerged from the May 2 vote having won 167 seats in the House. The New Democrats formed the official opposition with 102 seats, while the Liberals saw their presence diminished to just 34 MPs. The Bloc Quebecois' dismal four seats meant the separatists have lost official party status, while the Greens considered leader Elizabeth May's singular win to be a victory for the party.

Comments are now closed for this story

china
said

To BA from the "Peg" I don't recall voting for Mike Duffy for Senate - in Toronto, one day he's working as a reported on CTV and the next he's on the gravy train..........looks like stacking from down here.


happy Tory watcher:Hamilton
said

Summing up the new House of Commons: I am overall glad that Prof. Ignatieff got a soft landing as he changed jobs so quickly, (way luckier than most of us), but, phew, glad he's gone! The Libs were only thirsting for power, nothing more, and we still hear about their chaos. I'd love to eavesdrop on those 34 survivors! Marc Kennedy, reporter, made the excellent point on Ques. Period that they will need some form of charisma from their temporary leader in the House, to supply a few newsworthy zingers. They'll have to make something up; they stand for exactly nothing, even during the campaign when it really counted. No wonder the voters left them behind. The new Commons should be a fun show with the Harper-Layton setup, but all the PM needs is a swatter to keep the pesky NDP from landing any little stings! Good luck Tories: now back to work, and make us proud to be Canadians.


Jeff
said

Great to see that there will be a Conservative majority government. Judging from comment It's been so long since we had one, that the losers are still stuck in lets-make-a-deal mindspace.


mark
said

I laughed at all of the comments and posts from my lefty friends on facebook demonizing Harper and his Conservatives, and the absolute shock and genuine fear and anger from them when Harper won his majority. Now we have people claiming Harper has a 'false majority' and illegitimately claiming they are in 'the majority'. Funny how these same people never complained when Chretien was rolling out massive majorities with less than 40% of the vote. Suck it up guys; your party lost, Harper's won, and that's how our democracy works. The world doesn't end because they guy you didn't vote for won the election.


izzy
said

Resume on June 2, elect a speaker on June x and then go on summer leave. Get to work already.


The election is over..the good guys won!
said

I get a good chuckle out of the lefties who still think the campaign is on. Guess what? We went to the polls 2 weeks ago and elected a Conservative majority. That is democracy. Please stop posting the nonsense and lies your party of choice trotted out during the campaign. There comes a point where you just have to suck it up and admit you picked the losing side and get on with it and STOP posting the hateful comments.


TM
said

TEA from Regina: In Ontario we remember the so-called 'commmon sense' revolution of the Mike Harris era, and we say "no thanks"!


BA in The 'Peg
said

Lesson time again folks! The Senate, while un-elected, still requires vacancies to be filled in a certain time-frame, as the Senators are supposed to be representing the population, just like the House of Commons. Therefore, when people say "Harper stacked the Senate, even though he said he wouldn't" are factually wrong. PM Harper is for putting Elected Senators into the house, as he did with the Elected Senator from Alberta. He said he wanted the Provinces to hold Elections for Senators and then when the time comes, those Elected Senators would be put in the Upper House. People, we all have partisan comments to make, but before the partisan comments, lets make factual comments first!


Robert Thunder Bay
said

What a fabulous time to be a Canadian. I believe Harper and Layton CAN work together. Thank god we sent the Liberals packing. When in oppositin they refuse to work with others for the good of Canada. They only want to be in power.


Mark J.
said

The fighter planes are still in development. The company keeps changing how much they think each will cost once production is under way. That's why the price keeps changing, even for the Americans. But somehow, the fools around here expect the government to have a solid, fixed price when the company producing them doesn't.


Ron J.
said

Watchful in NL... what a distorted viewpoint. Those jets are the ones the military wants. They are top of the line and will replace our aging planes. Would you rather give them relics? Maybe biplanes from a museum? Tax cuts are for all business, big and small. Small businesses like mine will also benefit. Also, Harper alone cannot scrap or change the senate. Educate yourself. Changing the senate requires the cooperation of many others. He can't do it alone, and couldn't get the cooperation of the others, so he had no choice but to follow the rules of the current system. Those senators were appointed because the dinosaurs in the Liberal party wouldn't cooperate.


toon in toon
said

Heather complains that Mr. Harper puts his thugs out to make big announcements, and then in the next breath you people complain that he never lets anyone talk out in public, you can't have it both ways. Boy are we going to have to listen to this same crap for 4 more years from the same people or are you going to just face the fact that the Conservatives are in power so suck it up butter cup.


jim
said

the liberals and the bloc payed the political price at the ballot box for forcing this election upon us. we the voters have spoken and now let mr. harper and his majority government get to work on the economy, tough on crime agenda, and the useless gun registry to name a few.


Joe
said

I'm still laughing at the demise of the Liberal Party of Canada. Leaderless and completely clueless. Yet they still think they are the natural governing party of this country. Not so much me thinks. Way to go Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party.


Richard and Esther Provencher
said

Finally, a Majority Government. I hope ALL PARTIES will cut the baloney down and get legislation passed promptly. We have all heard the objections from the opposition parties in the past, two of which have non-official status, and I hope we don't have to go through all the yadda-yadda again. ie the gun registry cancellation, wheat board changes, budget that was turned down, etc. Canadian voters want the Conservatives to implement their agenda.


fed up
said

Big deal he says he will deal with what is important to Canadians, here is one stop kissing the butt of the rich oil companies and lower the price of gas and also spend more money on health care that would be of great help and also cancel the purchase of those fighter planes and get a better deal. Also cancel the time on your summer holidays and come back to work early.


Bob NS
said

The majority government ought to make good on their controversial promises early in their mandate and not do like the Obama's Administration who tried to do some way too long useless consultations with and none willing opposition.Bob NS


Richard and Esther Provencher
said

Pleased with Conservative Majority. So much more will now be done without the squabbling. The Liberals and Bloc probably wish they had not supported this nightmare scenario which descended upon them.


Doug ^^^ BC
said

I'll be surprised if Parliament sits for more than a couple of weeks before they all go home for the summer.Although,to be fair,a lot of MP's do a lot of work in their constituencies.And Jack will need some time to show his new MP's where their ridings actually are.The Liberals really need time to define themselves. They need to pass a budget. A couple of crime bills may get passed.Harper and Flaherty will be off to the G8 meetings in France pretty soon. Still.Like others,I look forward to some stability for a while.Canada should not make to many long term economic decisions until we know where the global economy is going.Like it or not, we are tied to the global economy,and there are still risks out there.


Watchful in NL
said

It will be a very interesting time, Steve has control of the senate, that he stacked, after promising that he wouldn't, he has a majority in parliament and a very weak opposition so he can do exactly what he wants for the next 4-5 years.Lets see what happens with this new power, no more saying I can't do anything because the boogy man coalition is after me. Now he can give billions in tax savings to his big business friends, billions for non tendered fighter jets and he can save 3-4 million when he kills the long gun registery that the Reform party wanted to kill for so many years. Good luck for the future!!


Don K
said

@ Topher: June 4th!


Jenna J.
said

Forcing an election will go down in political history as the Liberals' worst decision ever. Ha ha ha ha ha.


Steve G
said

The later, the better. At a minimum, as long as the house is not sitting, the Cons are not screwing up.


DCI
said

I sure hope that this 4 year full pension policy stops in govn't. If you work it out, for all the time off they get, it works out ot be about 2 years. And all the MP's and others get their full wages for all the time off too. WOW !!! If they are off for the summer; do they put in for UIC ? They should be classified as full time seasonal. I don't get my full wages when i'm layed off for the slow season. So, we are paying taxes to pay all the people in gov't when they aren't even there.There should be half the salary and no benifits on off time.Please write to your MP and demand change....We are paying these people a lot of money for them staying home. And shortly we will be paying for their summer vacation.


Jim - North Saanich, BC
said

It would be my hope that Partliament sits through the entire summer so that all issues before it are dealt with before rising for any break and if that means until the summer of 2012, so be it. Amongst highlights are obviously the budget, crime bills, abolition of the Long Gun Registry, Senate reform and the list goes on. The Liberals, NDP and BQ asked for this last election and now it is time to get on with business. Collectively they frittered away two months over an election that 80% of Canadians did not want in the first place and now it is time to make up for lost/wasted time. Ottawa is a hot and miserable place in the summer but I say tough, just get on with the business at hand and stay there until it is ALL dealt with.


Greg in London
said

For those that say the MP's only work part time, you need to remember that their not just sitting at home watching TV when the house isn't sitting, at least their not supposed to be, at that time their supposed to be back in their own ridings, getting work done on the local level. If they spent 100% of their time in Ottawa, how would they know what the people who voted for them wanted?


k markham
said

Be the start of the emergence of the new Liberals, without having to do a thing to appear popular again. I am sure we will see the Conservatives lose the faith of 50% of the 40% that voted for them and the NDP will be seen as a bad joke. The bright side is that it will be the last 4 years of Conservative rule for a couple of decades. Hope they don't do to much damage during the next 4 years.


Wondering - Ottawa
said

Just wondering..has anyone seen "Wendy's" comments lately. Guess we'll have to wait until the next election in 4 years...


Back to Work - Ottawa
said

So happy that after four years of zippo and Liberals wanting to bring the Government down the Conservatives will be able to get some legislation done. To the "no shows" - if you are calling in sick..push 1 and if you are "faking it" push 2..this is your "boss" speaking so show up. Has anyone had a sighting of Jack Layton..haven't heard a thing from him since the election came to an end...


NRM
said

Hopefully the majority government situation allows the government to make quick progress before the beer and BBQ summer circuit begins for the politicians.


qwerty
said

now I can fordet about this stuff for 4 years


Happy Calgarian
said

It is amazing that the Liberals would complain that the house is sitting so soon before the summer break when it was their party that pushed the election and got defeated. If you wanted the government to work than they shouldn't have pushed for the election. They got what was coming to them so stop complaining. 34 Seats is all you are allowed to complain with! It is time for the NDP and conservatives to represent Canadians.


Ron
said

Can hardly wait for government to get back to work. It will be most interesting to see the new opposition party at work. And by the way, Stephan Dion is still standing - cannot say the same for those who fired him as leader of the Liberal party. If he wasn't such a nice man, he would be having a real good laugh.


Sam
said

I agree that the summer break should be cut or at least shortened to get work done, the election took up much needed time to get things done.Go Mr. Harper and do us all proud!


Relaxed
said

With so many breaks it almost seems like a part-time job with full-time pay and benefits!


scott nova scotia
said

too bad they didn't have a punch clock and only got paid when they were working, like most Canadians. Maybe then we would see something really get done.


Hfx
said

I guess Harpers hitting the ground walking.


Judy
said

June 3....then 3 weeks of sitting before the summer break........back the end of September...then a 2 week Thanksgiving break....back for 2 weeks before the Christmas shut down....with these "sitting" hours it's a wonder anything gets done....


lonedog62
said

Back to work just in time to call the summer recess. It's been so long since we've had a working parliament, Harper would be wise to announce that there will be no summer recess so that some work can get done.


Dean
said

Finally a stable government without threats or intimidation by opposition parties.Jack , you'll have to control your novice gradeschoool MPs.As for the liberals, well the're a now useless rump in Parliament, leaderless and adrift with only 30 some seats and no policy whatsoever.Smooth sailing for Harper for years to come.


Heather
said

Never can understand why Harper doesn't do his own job and always throws out his thugs for big annoucements. Isn't he suppose to be the leader of the party? Harper doesn't, never has and never will connect with the majority of Canadians even if he has a majority of seats in Parliment, he doesn't hold all seats and he can't stay there forever.


TEA from Regina
said

Good, now some common sense can be finally put back into this country...


Jeff S.
said

Go PM Harper! Use that Majority to do what needs to be done to keep Canada economically strong and don't worry about the NDP's socialist whining while doing so.


topher
said

Back on June 3 , when do they start the summer break?


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