Mike Kelloway in the House of Commons; photo courtesy Mike Kelloway
MP’s are returning to Parliament Tuesday- just not to Parliament Hill.
They’ll have the country’s first-ever virtual House of Commons session on Zoom.
Mike Kelloway, the Member of Parliament for Cape Breton-Canso, told The Hawk Morning Show it’s completely uncharted territory.
“This is all new to everyone- the Speaker, the House of Commons staff,” he said. “It really is history- it’s something that’s never been done before.”
Kelloway said it will be a special committee, with the Speaker of the House serving as chair.
He said COVID-19 will the obvious focus of the meeting for all MP’s on the screen.
“I think it’s going to be close to 300 people that will be on Zoom,” he said. “There’s options to basically turn the page, if you will- there’s nine pages of people.”
Kelloway said he and his fellow members of the Commons’ Standing Committee on Health held the country’s first-ever teleconference parliamentary committee meeting earlier in the pandemic, and it was difficult.
He said Zoom- and video- should be easier.
