The cumulative effect of the bundle of new laws the Liberals are intent on enacting will establish a prime minister and cabinet members who are no longer accountable to parliament, with the power to selectively grant special privileges to some and to selectively apply an extended hand of the law to others. This plan would be unfolding as devised were it not for the dogged questioning from a handful of acute opposition MPs and one alarming discovery by Toronto Star national columnist and CBC "At Issue" panelist Althia Raj.

On Dec. 6 the Toronto Star featured what has turned out to be a bombshell news item for parliamentarians. Raj concisely described the Liberals' deceitful sleight of hand maneuver with Bill C-15, their budget legislation, in her news article, "Mark Carney is quietly giving sweeping new powers to his ministers."

"Hidden in the federal government's 634-page omnibus bill C-15, the Budget Implementation Act, is a measure that has so far escaped scrutiny. Under the pretext of regulatory efficiency, Prime Minister Mark Carney plans to grant cabinet ministers the power to exempt any individual or company from any federal law on the books — except for the Criminal Code — for up to six years.

Carney is even more of a dictator than Trudeau was.

This was written by Josh Dehaas and appeared in the National Post.

QuoteCarney asks Parliament to give him the power of a king

The Liberals informed us that the budget bill will actually include yet another measure that would sideline Parliament's functions, concentrating even more power in the prime minister and his cabinet. Section 12 of the Bill C-15 would allow the minister to exempt any individual, business or other organization from any existing law or regulation other than the Criminal Code, for up to six years, with few limits. This means Prime Minister Carney and his ministers could get to act like dictators, greenlighting exemptions to Parliament's laws for their friends whenever convenient.

Section 12 says ministers would be allowed to create exemptions to any law except for the Criminal Code so long as they say the exemptions are in the public interest, would enable goals like "testing a new regulatory regime" aimed at "innovation, competitiveness or economic growth," have benefits that outweigh the risks, and come with measures will be taken to protect health, safety and the environment.

Unlike most orders and regulations, which must be published in the Canada Gazette within 30 days, the minister would only be required to notify the public "as soon as feasible." The minister would be allowed to keep secret information about the order that they decide would be "inappropriate" to make public.

This means the government could enter into contracts with individuals in situations where doing so would otherwise violate the Conflict of Interest Act, and not ever tell us the details. It means citizens and journalists get blocked from seeking documents under the Access to Information Act. It means mining companies may be able to avoid their obligations to prevent corruption under the Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act. And it could create all kinds of regulatory goodies for ministers to reward preferred companies by letting them avoid environmental regulations while their competitors can't.

An even bigger problem with section 12 than the obvious risk of corruption it creates is that it would allow ministers to avoid the necessary work of convincing Parliament that bad laws need to be amended. There's no question that there are laws and regulations on the books that stand in the way of progress and development, but the solution is for Parliament to actually sit in Ottawa and figure out how to fix them.

In a democracy, ministers shouldn't be deciding that any individual or company should get a free pass from the laws. That's really not much different than being ruled by a king or a dictator. We send MPs to Ottawa to represent our interests by ensure that laws are fair, necessary, and broadly responsive to Canadians' needs.