What will make the cut, and what won’t be approved?
Those are the main questions at Quebec’s National Assembly as lawmakers now only have four days to pass 19 bills before the session closes for the summer and parties begin campaigning for the fall election.
“It’s always the rush right before election period to have so many bills because politically all parties have to really dig in, try to make a difference,” said political analyst Daniel Tran, the director of communications and governmental affairs at Casacom.
READ MORE: Quebec legislative session ends this week with 19 more bills to pass
MNAs will now only have a few days to go through public consultations. It started Tuesday with Bill 9, a law that would restrict energy drinks for youth under 16.
Officials from the Quebec order of pharmacists were present at the hearings.
“The Canadian Paediatric Society describes energy drinks as ‘at best, useless, at worst, dangerous.’ Therefore, people understand that these are products with little to no value or benefit whatsoever,” said Jean-François Desgagné, the order’s president.
“Faced with the accumulating number of cases, I think we have everything we need to make a decision today,” added Patrick Boudreault, the order’s director general.
The Opposition Liberals say they’re ready to cooperate to adopt the bill.
“We will have our say in helping the government to make sure it’s going to be a reality,” said Marc Tanguay, the parliamentary leader for the Liberals.
More on Bill 9:
Consultations for that law began after Conservative MNA Maïté Blanchette Vézina blocked an attempt to fast-track the bill last week, which would have required unanimous support.
“Especially when you have the regulatory power that the minister reserves to regulate – that’s the government, not the National Assembly – regulating beverages containing caffeine from tea is questionable,” said the MNA for Rimouski.
The law comes after 15-year-old Zachary Miron died while on a ski trip with his class after drinking a single can of RedBull, which mixed with his ADHD medication.
Political analyst Tran says how the Conservatives handle the bill could become an election issue.
“The parties will push forward and if the Conservative Party resists, it’ll definitely be a strike on their end,” Tran told CityNews.
Alongside Bill 9 are 18 other laws like it. Political watchers say it’s unlikely every bill will make it through before the National Assembly adjourns.
Those that don’t could quickly become campaign promises as parties head into the fall election.
“The more time they are at the National Assembly, that’s less time that they have contact with potential voters,” Tran said.
Liberal Opposition members say the province would have had more time if the National Assembly wasn’t suspended after François Legault stepped down.
“They decided to suspend any works here at the National Assembly, so we lost three weeks,” Tanguay lamented.
“There’s also people working in the background to analyze different clauses and everything,” added Tran. … In those three weeks, a lot of things could have happened, definitely.”
