Comments on: The opposition parties stand up for democracy today.

By: Jon Pertwee

Jon Pertwee — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:21:32 +0000

@Frunger, I believe Rae paraphrased the old chestnut Just Watch Me. Hope that keeps you Conbots awake at night Frunger.

By: Scott Tribe

Scott Tribe — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 22:20:54 +0000

@ck, Actually, he did reply, and he said that he’d left himself an “out” with the contempt filings.

By: bull caller

bull caller — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:57:21 +0000

Well finally it does come to pass. Thank god our opposition has actually decided to do their jobs!

What our friend “Frunger” fails to acknowledge is that we have arrived at bumping into one of the last backstops of our democracy before it descends into some sort of dictatorship. Its not the fact that this method is in place, but the fact we had to go here to do something that should have been expected as regular orders of business (release the docs, per parliament’s order). In 2 years Harper has brought our democracy to consitutional crises 2 times as a minority government. Just imagine if they actually obtained a governing majority.

Keep the pressure on. If it goes to election on this issue, Harper will lose, and big time.

By: ck

ck — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:55:54 +0000

Ha! I wouldn’t bet on that Ibbitson having any kind of sense of humour. Gawd! You’re talking about the male version of Blathering Blatchford

By: Robert Longpré

Robert Longpré — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:23:14 +0000

Harper loses no matter which way he turns. He hands over the documents, he loses. He doesn’t and he loses. He asks for an election, he loses. The opposition MUST continue down the road they have decided to open up. Failure to do so will only entrench Harper in power for a lo-o-o-o-n-g time.

By: TofKW

TofKW — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:10:19 +0000

So if they are held in contempt, and the sergeant-at-arms goes to sieze the documents and the government refuses, then what?

That depends on how far Harper wants to go with this. Personally I’d love to see him thrown in the parliamentary dungeon, it’s been far too long since we’ve last used that instrument. However I get the feeling he’ll drop in on the GG and ask for parliament to be dissolved before we see that moment.

And incidentally, if that happens good luck to your side on even maintaining the seat count you presently hold if: a) you’re the ones forcing an unwanted election at this time, and, b) trying to fight against the 3 issues of government transparency, parliamentary supremacy and compliance with international law.

Remember this isn’t a confidence issue, it is a legal/constitutional issue. It only goes to an election if Harper triggers it.

By: Frunger

Frunger — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:24:26 +0000

So if they are held in contempt, and the sergeant-at-arms goes to sieze the documents and the government refuses, then what? How far is the opposition going to take this? Will they all band together and vote this government down, or is it all bluster?

By: Big Winnie

Big Winnie — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:58:49 +0000

This is a good day for democracy! I also appreciated the fact that the Speaker quickly dismissed Likuski’s question regarding time by mentioning that he asked Lee to refrain from bringing forth his motion.

By: Scott Tribe

Scott Tribe — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:50:41 +0000

@Michelle, I wouldnt mind seeing a press release from CAPP supporting this.

By: Anon ABC

Anon ABC — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:47:05 +0000

Good news for those of us, including you, Scott, who have been calling for this stand for some time.

As I posted before, Iocabucci should have been a non-starter, even disregarding what it would cost taxpayers for what is basically a secret legal opinion to Harper (at $600/hr for 2 years, it works out to over 2M).

Let us hope that Iocabucci will now do the right thing, recuse himself from the job and save taxpayers the money, given that the elected representatives of the majority of the people have spoken clearly in the House today that they think Parliamentary priviledges have been transgressed.