Thursday, March 18, 2010

Contempt of Parliament

With the Speaker of the House now set to make a decision on whether or not the Government is in contempt of Parliament for not immediately producing documents which may possibly endanger our Armed Forces deployed in the field, the rest of us are left waiting. If the Speaker grants today's motion, it opens the door for criminal prosecution of government ministers, or so Rosemary Barton tells me. At the very least, it will be "hugely symbolic and embarassing for the Government", or so Rosemary Barton tells me.

So the opposition is introducing motions that could lead to criminal prosecution of government officials, and where is Ignatieff? Aruba? Jamaica? Basically he takes off and allows the inmates (Rae, Dosanjh, and Lee) to take over the asylum, and if it turns out poorly for the Liberals, Iggy can plead that if wasn't actually there, then it never really happened. That is what qualifies as strong leadership in Liberal circles.

10 comments:

  1. If the opposition want the records that bad I think it should go before the house as a confidence vote. If they are turned over, have a single opposition member sign for them and be held fully responsible for any "Leaks" that could damage our soldiers or this country.

    Rob C

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  2. If the Speaker grants today's motion...it is obvious the House has lost confidence in the government,
    the motion will be a vote of confidence (or sent to the SCoC for a decision).

    Enough already, someone put out a missing persons report on Iffy and let's have an election.

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  3. What does Rosemary Barton know?

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  4. Every single politician in the House needs to go to Afghanistan and meet the soldiers, diplomats & aid workers from Canada. Just that single trip will silence the idiocy coming from the opposition benches and sever the link between the Liberal party and self-aggrandising, liberal shill & pseudo professor Amir Attaran. Nothing like a dose of reality to open eyes & ears shut by partisan gunk (Attaran included).

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  5. Opposition has no right to demand documents that could threaten lives or national security.. The Supreme Court judge review is the right move, and I think the opposition are seriously underestimating the public backlash that will erupt against them if they try this political stunt to defame our elected government and soldiers. It will make the prorogation 'fury' look like a walk in the park..
    the polls are already shifting away from the LIBS again..hmmm...give it a try IGGY, because I smell an election if you do.

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  6. The Libs are going to back down, guaranteed. They aren't ready for an election. And they probably fear an election too. So once again, they overplay a weak hand. It's just a matter of how much damage they do to their crediblity.

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  7. Who cares about Rosemary, She is a biased reporter.

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  8. If they get their ruling, doesn't that mean they've "lost Confidence" in the Government? If you're seeking to have criminal charges brought against the sitting members of the Crown's Cabinet, then by very definition, you have "no confidence" in them.

    Yep, the Libs have done themselves in once again... by any possible definition, this will bring down the House.

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  9. Whether this is a breach of Parliamentary procedure is best left to the authorities on that subject,which I certainly am NOT.

    Some alleged "experts" claim the government is obligated to provide these reports to the Opposition, but the Opposition, on receipt, should also be obligated to not reveal anything that would endanger our troops.

    But, we all know, this has nothing to do with Parliamentary procedure or ethics or justice or humanity, it's just another attempt by the Opposition to find a scandal that will force the government to step down.

    Right now Canada's "Loyal" Opposition is acting more like a coterie of National Inquirer reporters looking for the next big sex scandal,than a real Opposition.

    It's appropriate that Iggy's out of town, like a mob boss while a big hit's going down.

    DMorris

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  10. So then if the speaker decides the government is in contempt of parliament, should that be considered a confidence motion?

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