Liberals shut down committee debate on $6.6-billion IT project

People walk past the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA — Opposition MPs say the Liberals used their new power as a majority government Thursday to shelve debate on calls for the government to provide documents about a $6.6-billion IT project that has gone far over budget.

While the project to modernize the systems the government uses to deliver benefits to Canadians, such as old age security, launched in 2017 with a $1.7-billion budget, the cost is now more than three times that sum.

Last week, the House of Commons human resources committee debated a Bloc Québécois motion to have the government produce documents about the project.

When the committee convened Thursday, the Liberals instead pushed forward with clause by clause consideration of an unrelated bill, without providing any notice to the rest of the committee of that plan.

Conservative MP Garnett Genuis said he was disappointed the Liberals used their new majority to end that debate and move on to another topic entirely.

“Canadians will be worse off because they won’t have access to this information about this software,” he said, adding that the government seems to think it doesn’t have to collaborate with other parties.

The Liberals officially became a majority government on Monday and have been criticized multiple times since for forcing debate at committees behind closed doors.

On Tuesday, the health and ethics committees welcomed new Liberal MPs, giving the government a majority of members. Minutes into both meetings, the Liberal members used their majorities to send the debates into closed-door sessions.

Conservative ethics critic Michael Barrett said that once the committee meetings were moved in camera, committee members were barred from speaking publicly about what happened behind closed doors.

Tory health critic Dan Mazier said he was shocked to see Liberal MPs vote to move debate in-camera.

“It’s very disheartening to see the Liberals go to this degree of kind of authoritarianism,” he said.

Liberal members also requested to go in camera at the science and transport committees this week.

At the veterans affairs committee on Wednesday, the chair moved to adjourn unilaterally — a move which Conservative MPs said shut down debate on a Conservative motion to study the effects of budget cuts on veterans.

“The second the Liberals got their majority they have been shutting down Parliamentary Committees which are in place to hold the government accountable,” Conservative MP Blake Richards said on social media. “Canadians should watch closely to see the Liberals’ true colours.”

Majority governments typically hold majorities on committees — places where the opposition can really slow down legislation. Committees study legislation and other government business, and have the power to call witnesses and require the production of documents.

After securing a majority, the Liberals passed a motion to restructure committees to give them a majority of seats. The Liberals held less than half the spots on each committee following the 2025 election, where they earned a minority government.

There are now 174 members on the government benches after five MPs — four from the Conservative benches and one from the NDP — defected over the last six months.

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press

With files from Sarah Ritchie

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 30, 2026.