Liberals will push for election over Tories' disrespect for democracy
Thursday, March 10, 2011
By Andrew Mayeda, Postmedia News
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House of Commons Speaker Peter Milliken delivers a ruling in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill.
Photographed by:
Chris Wattie/Reuters, xx
OTTAWA — The federal Liberals say they're ready to fight an election over the Harper government's lack of respect for democracy, despite Prime Minister Stephen Harper's argument that Canadians are more concerned about the fragile economic recovery.
The prime minister on Thursday downplayed twin rulings by the House of Commons Speaker that could lead to the government being found in contempt of Parliament.
"You win some, you lose some," he said.
"I understand that in the game of democratic politics, oppositions and governments attack each other, and there are parliamentary procedures and rulings back and forth, and that's the way life is," Harper added. "It's all part of the democratic system, keeping the government accountable, and we accept that, but our focus can't become on parliamentary procedure, our focus has to be on the big interests of Canadians, and in my judgment, that is the economy."
Speaker Peter Milliken ruled this week that the Liberals have a case in arguing the government breached the parliamentary privileges of MPs by refusing to disclose enough details about corporate tax cuts and the costs of Conservative crime bills.
Milliken also ruled there's a case to be made that International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda breached privilege by making conflicting statements about her role in the denial of funding to an international aid group.
Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff called the government's nonchalance an "insult" to Canadians.
"This is not a game here. This is democracy," he said. "The House of Commons is where our democracy happens."
Ignatieff said he would be "delighted" to fight an election on the issues of ethics and transparency. "I'm not looking for an election, but if you treat the Canadian people with that kind of contempt, if you say democracy's a little distraction, it doesn't matter to you, look out."
The Conservatives are betting Canadians aren't interested in a debate about the arcane details of parliamentary privilege, a term that describes the rights and powers of the House of Commons and its members. Parliament has the authority to demand documents from the government, among other things.
But the Liberals hope the rulings will buttress their argument that the Conservatives are secretive, ruthless and untrustworthy.
The rulings have been referred to a Commons committee for review. The committee has until March 21 — the day before the Conservative government is scheduled to bring down its budget — to deliver its own recommendation on the crime-bill ruling. It must report back to the Commons on the Oda ruling by March 25.
The committee will hold three days of public hearings starting Wednesday.
If the committee comes down hard on the government, the Liberals could move a motion to find the government and Oda in contempt of Parliament. Liberal sources say the party is considering going even further, by introducing a non-confidence motion. If all three opposition parties support such a motion, the government would fall, triggering an election.
The NDP and Bloc Quebecois have shown less enthusiasm recently for an election. But the leaders of both parties agreed Thursday that the Speaker's rebuke is a serious issue.
"Certainly our focus is on the budget right now, but there's no question that more and more Canadians are losing any trust that they might have once felt for this government," said NDP leader Jack Layton.
The Commons has passed motions of contempt five times since Confederation. The most recent case came in 2008, when RCMP deputy commissioner Barbara George was censured for providing false and misleading testimony to a Commons committee. No cabinet minister — or an entire government, for that matter — has been found in contempt.
The government believed it had provided enough information in the tax-and-crime case, the prime minister said, but it will re-examine its decision to see if there's any other information it can provide. |
