Despite the prorogation of Parliament, Prince George’s Standing Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs will continue to advocate for the creation of a national brain injury strategy.
The committee met for the first time in 2025 on Tuesday, Jan. 7, which was also the first meeting since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his intention to step down once a new Liberal leader is chosen and that he had asked Governor General Mary Simon to prorogue Parliament.
When Parliament is prorogued, it ends the current parliamentary session. That leads to all unfinished business being dropped, including the work of committees and legislation under discussion.
One of the items that will halt progress on is Cowichan-Malahat-Langford NDP MP Alistair MacGregor’s Bill C-277, which would establish a national strategy on the prevention, treatment and awareness of brain injuries.
The Prince George Brain injured Group declared its support for the bill in Oct. 2023. In April 2024, city council referred it to the committee for discussion.
That bill passed committee stage last October, meaning it only had to pass a third and final reading in the House of Commons before getting handed off to the Senate for further discussion.
The city’s director of administrative services, Eric Depenau, told the committee on Tuesday that administration believes the bill will eventually be reintroduced as it had cross-party support.
He also said the national group Brain Injury Canada has, as far as he can tell, remained committed to advocating for it once the business of government resumes.
Coun. Kyle Sampson said it’s his understanding that the House of Commons can bring a prorogued bill back by granting unanimous consent. For that reason, he said the committee should prepare a letter of support for all Members of Parliament by the time the House resumes on March 24.
Councillors Garth Frizzell and Susan Scott said it would be a good idea to also communicate with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the North Central Local Government Association and the Union of BC Municipalities on the matter.
A motion approving the preparation of a letter of support passed unanimously.
