Democratic Reform Bills - Blocked By Dysfunctional Commons Committees

From The Hill Times article:

There are currently six bills on the Order Paper that deal with democratic reform, but none have passed report stage, except one, since they've been introduced, died under prorogation, and reintroduced in this Parliament.

Bill C-6, the Visual Identification of Voters Bill, which would require a voter's face to be fully revealed at polling booths, is at the Procedure and House Affairs Committee, which hasn't met since the beginning of March.

Bill C-16, the Expanded Voting Opportunities Bill, which would add extra advanced voting days, is at report stage in the House, but hasn't been debated since Dec. 10, 2007, when the bill was reported back from committee to the House.

Bill C-19, the Senate Tenure Bill, which would limit a Senator's term to eight years instead of mandatory retirement at age 75, is at second reading in the House and has only received one day of debate on Nov. 16, 2007.

Bill C-20, the Senate Selection Bill, which would allow the Prime Minister to "consult" with Canadians on their Senate preferences, is currently at a special legislative House committee.

Bill C-22, the Democratic Representation Bill, which would change the formula for increasing the number of seats in the House after every 10-year census, is at second reading in the House, and has received one day of debate, on Feb. 18, 2008.

Bill C-29, the Loan Accountability Bill, which would limit where candidates in election or leadership campaigns could get loans from to financial institutions, is currently at second reading in the Senate and received its first day of debate last week.

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Well, there's a great way to make the Parliament functional again. All that's needed is to declare at least those bills that have the highest support among the public (Senate elections and term limits, as well as visual identification of voters) - a confidence matter. If the opposition parties agree to stop filibustering - there will be no need to call an election before the scheduled date, which is still over a year from now. But if they choose to vote those bills down - they'll have to explain their decision to the voters.