PM Martin's on again - off again support for SSM has become the question of the day. I bet that this legislation will be shelved because we have seen that PM Martin will do anything to stay in power and he will sell out the SSM lobby to protect his grip on power.
The flip-flop counter is at Day 1 (I would be shocked if it gets to 10).
The meetings have already begun.
Update: John Ibbitson has an interesting column on all of this in the Globe and Mail. I love his conclusion:
...Then again, the Liberals might back off on C-38, if it appears Mr. O'Brien might succeed in securing an ally from the Liberal caucus. Otherwise, the same-sex-marriage bill could foment a crisis of confidence over the budget bills, leading to the government's defeat.
Unless Mr. Grewal, because he is on stress leave, is unable to vote.
If so, the Grewal tapes would ultimately contribute to helping the Liberal government survive.
You think that's crazy? Don't worry. By tomorrow everything will have changed.
Update: Well that didn't take long. I wonder why these provisions weren't included in the first place. The die has been cast. If you are a Liberal back-bencher and you want something done become an independent and get you and 3 of your buddies to threaten to bring the government down. Mr. Dithers has become Mr. Cave-In.
Update II: I should be more fair. This is not a flip-flop. The bill is probably now a better piece of legislation but it still promotes SSM. It is a shame that it takes MPs stepping out of their parties to get this to happen.
Update III: The National Post reports there is no deal...yet.
...''It was a very open discussion on process ... the pros and cons of dealing with the legislation early as opposed to later,'' said Tonks.
No consensus was reached and there is no deal to either amend the legislation or to delay its passage.
Three other government sources confirmed Tonks' account.
Maybe Robert Fife is right and they are just not ready to announce it yet. It looks pretty bad when a back-bencher says jump and the PM does in less than 24 hours.
