Published by Senator Tommy Banks (retired) on 31 March 2009
New World Record!!
House of Commons authorizes spending $28.5 Billion in 15 minutes!!
That’s $1.5 Billion per MINUTE!!!
An excerpt from Hansard proceedings of the Senate on 25 March 2009:
Hon. Tommy Banks: The honourable senator said that this bill, which as I read it is spending nearly $30 billion, including the amount the honourable senator has referred to and which Senator Gerstein referred to in vote 35, received first and second reading, was approved by the Committee of the Whole in the other place and was given third reading in one day.
I ask this question of Senator Day because one of the things that Parliament ought to do when it is asked to approve expenditures on this or any order by the government is to study. When it comes down to it, that is what Parliament does. Parliament exists because in 1215 some people said to the Crown, "You have to ask us before you can spend all this money and tell us how you will spend it." Does the honourable senator know how long this bill took to pass through the approval process and how much scrutiny it received?
Senator Day: I did indicate to honourable senators that all of this took place in one day. However, I did obtain information from the House of Commons website in relation to this bill. With respect to the supplementary estimates and the spending of $1.5 billion, it took a full 10 minutes to go through all of those stages.
With respect to the expenditure of $27 billion of voted expenditures — I said $26 billion earlier, but it is $27 billion after being rounded up — the process took five minutes in the House of Commons.