Sometimes (ok most of the time) I don't understand Ottawa. The games the politicians play really frustrate me. What's more is how is this Liberal strategy supposed to work?
...The Liberals choked off an opposition attempt to control the timetable for possibly bringing down the government. They cancelled a so-called parliamentary opposition day on Wednesday in a move foes called a desperate attempt to retain power.
From what I heard on CPAC the language of the Conservative motion was unacceptable to the Liberals so they cut them off. I remember hearing that the motion was to do with creating an Air India inquiry. Can't the Conservatives write a motion to get this pass? [Note, see below, this speculation is incorrect] Second, what kind of government system do we have where a government gives the opposition days to introduce legislation but then can indiscriminately cancel them if it will embarrass them. What a joke.
..."When a government starts trying to cancel dissent or avoid dissent is frankly when it's rapidly losing its moral authority to govern," said Conservative Leader Stephen Harper.
Tory House Leader Jay Hill went further.
He said his party will no longer display the type of co-operation that allowed the federal budget to pass a critical vote in the Commons.
Hill even hinted his party could topple the government.
"We will be looking at any tools that are available
to us to consider holding this government accountable," he said.
"We have been endeavoring to work in a co-operative manner with this government . . . But now the gloves are off."
Update: I missed that CTV has video on this one as well.
..."Now, if they don't even want to work with the one party who has cut them a break from time to time, so be it. They do so at their own peril," Harper told reporters Monday night.
Looks like I was wrong about the motion.
...Duffy said the government claimed it heard through the grapevine that the opposition day motion, to be tabled Monday evening for discussion Wednesday, was to change the rules and dictate what the government agenda would be with respect to opposition days.
"This was an attempt by the Conservative party to make sure the government honoured its own commitment to have opposition days at least once a week," Harper told reporters, adding this was the practice.
"Part of the political game here is we have eight opposition days remaining between now and June 23," Duffy said.
The opposition fears the government will put all the opposition days towards the end of the session, he said.
"The whole purpose of the motion was to make sure opposition days would be honoured," Harper said.
I have now watched videos and House Leader Valeri pretty much confirms that the Liberals are going to stack the Opposition Days to be the last days of this current cycle. The Conservative motion was to prevent this so the Government rejected it. What was it that MP David Kilgour called Canada?
