‘It’s very cowardly:’ Nanaimo MP’s abandoned vessels legislation sinks in Parliament
NANAIMO — After a high profile secret vote in the House of Commons, a bill introduced by Nanaimo-Ladysmith MP Sheila Malcolmson is dead in the water.
The bill, a long-in-the-works passion project for Malcolmson about cleaning up abandoned vessels along Canada’s shores, was originally deemed unvotable by a procedural committee because it was too similar to a Liberal bill put forward after hers. Malcolmson then enacted a never-before-used tactic where MP’s voted in secret on whether the private member’s bill should be brought to the floor for debate.
“I’m really disappointed but I’m also really pretty disgusted with the Liberal government’s refusal to hear the solutions from coastal communities about abandoned vessels,” Malcolmson told NanaimoNewsNOW on Thursday after it was announced her plan didn’t work.
Though vote totals weren’t announced, Malcolmson said she heard from Liberal MPs they would vote along party lines, even though the secret ballot was designed to specifically prevent party allegiances from dictating how members voted.