To follow up on my post last night, Craig Oliver of CTV reports that all this gamesmanship over the Opposition Days is a ploy by the Liberals to force the Opposition to bring them down over the Budget.
..."The government wants (the opposition) to defeat them on the budget bill," Oliver reported, noting that would create a political headache for the opposition.
Alternatively, if the government can stack all the opposition days towards the session's end in late June, that would mean an election in the prime summer holiday time of July, he said.
And in the video Craig Oliver reports that PM Martin was in the building during Question Period but was meeting with Ambassadors instead of facing tough questioning.
Canadian Press has an 0n-depth story on this issue as well.
..."You have to use an analogy," said Ned Franks, a professor emeritus at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., and one of the deans of Canadian parliamentary procedure.
"It's the beginning of a schoolyard brawl. They're circling each other and feinting, acting like the boss of the schoolyard - both sides.
"You haven't yet had any fists thrown, but that's going to happen at some time. It's really a question of when. And obviously the government wants to make its decision of when - and preferably on an issue of its choice."
Reuters reports that the Opposition can force a non-confidence vote on May 19.
...It could be a circuitous route to that opposition day, starting in a committee vote on Thursday, but even Liberal cabinet minister Tony Valeri conceded to reporters that the opposition would be able to force an opposition day by May 19.
Procedurally, the standing committee on procedure and House affairs will vote on Thursday at 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT) on a Conservative motion that requires an opposition day no later than May 19.
Hill said the Liberals have agreed to allow that vote go ahead. The three opposition parties that back the move have a majority on the committee, guaranteeing its success there.
It would then proceed to the House of Commons. Hill said the Liberals would have the power to delay a vote on the motion until till May 18, but, again, since the three opposition parties hold a majority in the Commons, its eventual passage is assured.
