EXCERPT
CTV.ca News Staff

“Prime Minister Stephen Harper has decided to delay the opening of the fall session of Parliament to Oct. 16, setting up the possibility of a fall election if the opposition parties vote against the government’s throne speech.

Parliament was scheduled to resume on Sept. 17, but Harper has chosen to end the First Session of Canada’s 39th Parliament early…

Parliament will begin with a throne speech that will, in effect, set the stage for a vote of non-confidence. The parties would vote on the speech within six working days, and the Conservatives currently have 125 of 308 seats….”

* If the throne speech is not supported by a majority of MPs, the government will fall, triggering an election.

What does this mean for Bill C303?
According to: Wanted: affordable quality child care — Vancouver Island News Group — Lake Cowichan Gazette; September 4, 2007; Jean Crowder, MP

“…As parliamentarians prepare to head back to Ottawa in September, the Early Learning and Child Care Act is also scheduled back in the House of Commons for a final vote. Because all opposition parties have supported this bill in the past, it is expected that it would continue through the process until it receives royal assent and becomes law.

However, there are concerns that the Conservative government is planning to prorogue the House (which means the discontinuation of parliamentary meetings without dissolving Parliament). If so, existing parliamentary business would end. All government bills that had not received royal assent prior to prorogation would cease to exist.

In order for a government bill to proceed in a new session, it must be reintroduced as a new bill or it may be reinstated if the House agrees.

Therefore, if the House is prorogued until October, the Early Learning and Child Care Act would be further delayed….”