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Who's ready for a rant about how our Parliamentary democracies are supposed to function?! Here we go! A #peipoli THREAD (that applies to all Canadian Govts): 
We often encounter this problem where really important things happen in the legislature/Parliament/Council, but no one takes the time to explain it to the public. That’s what's happening in #peipoli this week, so I’m going to do my best to explain what's going on.
The Govt has proposed amendments to the Emergency Measures Act. These amendments, as originally written, would give Cabinet (the executive Branch of government) unilateral power to suspend/adjust all provincial laws during a State of Emergency declaration and for 90 days after.
BIG NOPE. LEGISLATURE (ie - all the people we elect) needs to make these decisions. Not CABINET (ie - members of the governing party who serve as Ministers). The language in these amendments is vague, meaning we have no framework for how this executive power can/will be used.
More or less, this writes a blank cheque allowing Govt to do whatever they deem necessary during a State of Emergency, without consulting the legislature. The problem with unchecked power is, of course, that it isn’t subject to any checks! It can be used for good OR... not good.
The explanation will surely be that Govt needs these measures to be able to enact/suspend legislation in order to protect Islanders in emergency circumstances. This is true — but Govt CAN ALREADY DO THIS. They just need to make a clear ask and get consent from the Legislature.
This proposal will allow Cabinet to decide what is best, and then unilaterally suspend or adjust PEI’s laws to achieve it. All behind closed doors. No checks, no balances. It would take the power away from the legislators we elect, and in turn, take away our representation!
This is not Parliamentary democracy — we elect a mix of representatives from varying parties and backgrounds, and they all do their part to make good decisions for us. In public.
There is a minority government in PEI, which means Govt cannot pass these changes without support from Opposition parties. I suspect we will see many proposed amendments from the Greens and Liberals to narrow the scope of Cabinet’s power, but I don’t think that will be enough.
I question why we need to provide the Executive branch with carte blanche. When COVID hit, we saw all federal parties convene immediately and they cooperated to support the Trudeau Govt’s measures. There was an opportunity for dialogue, an opportunity to amend. No carte blanche.
As a good friend often says, democracy dies in the darkness! IMO, these amendments should not pass at all. But I would encourage you to send a note/tweet/etc to your MLA this week to check in on this. If we’re going to write a cheque, I hope, for democracy’s sake, it's not blank.
