During the 2015 election campaign, Prime Minister Trudeau's Liberal Party platform included a promise that "we will not" use prorogation to "avoid difficult political circumstances."

Prime Minister Trudeau has broken that promise twice. The first breach occurred in August 2020, when he prorogued Parliament to halt Parliamentary Committee investigations into the WE Charity situation—despite the House of Commons not even being in session at the time.

The second prorogation occurred recently on January 6, 2025. Facing internal pressure from the Liberal caucus, Prime Minister Trudeau announced his resignation. The prorogation gives the Liberal Party time and political cover to select a new leader.

While this arrangement benefits the Liberal Party, it comes at a cost to Canadians—the House of Commons shutdown means there are no opportunities to officially question the Liberal Government or hold them accountable. Additionally, all bills and legislation, including private members' bills, have ground to a halt, preventing any progress in these areas.

Unfortunately, many important issues affecting Canadians cannot be addressed while the House of Commons is prorogued. Let me provide an example.

This week, we learned of an alarming situation involving international students with valid Canadian study permits.

According to data from Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), nearly 50,000 international students failed to attend their enrolled college or university programs during a two-month period in spring 2024. This raises serious questions: If these international students who were approved to study in Canada are not attending their enrolled classes, what activities are they pursuing instead?

What's also troubling is that this information only came to light because of a recent federal compliance requirement mandating post-secondary institutions to report these numbers twice yearly. Without this mandatory reporting requirement, it appears that few, if any, post-secondary institutions voluntarily disclosed this information or expressed concerns about it.

The RCMP has acknowledged concerns about smuggling networks that exploit student visas for illegal border crossings.

What's particularly concerning is that this new reporting system contradicts Statistics Canada's own numbers, which show a significantly larger population of foreign nationals studying in Canada than what the IRCC has reported.

These statistical discrepancies could be investigated by a Parliamentary committee, but since the House of Commons is prorogued, we lack any means to question the government or hold them accountable for these inconsistencies and other serious issues.

My question this week: How concerned are you about the current prorogation of Parliament?

I can be reached at [email protected] or call toll-free 1-800-665-8711.