With Liberal MPs holding a majority of seats in the House of Commons, government House leader Steven MacKinnon moved a motion on Thursday that would see that majority reflected in the allotment of seats on House committees.
This would be an entirely unremarkable development — the sort of procedural housekeeping that occurs at the start of each Parliament — except for the fact that it was happening a year after the last general federal election.
It is for that reason — and for the remarkable events that have transpired over the last 12 months — that the change to committees was not simply waved through the House this week with unanimous consent.
An immediate election call after a floor crossing may dampen the enthusiasm.
