Thursday, March 10, 2011

Peter Milliken The Partisan Liberal

How convenient of the Speaker of the House to hurry up both his contempt of parliament motions and squeeze them in before the pre-budget recess. The Liberal Party could not have hoped for better wording of the statement if they had written it themselves. Speakers are chosen by secret ballot in the House of Commons, but the Stephen Harper never made any major effort to elect a Tory to the post, which was clearly a mistake.  Seeing Harper and Dion humorously escorting Miliken back to the Speaker's chair in 2008, there may have been warm and fuzzy period of bipartisan delusions, but alas it was short lived. Minority government in Canada is chaotic at best, and a Liberal speaker will just default to his partisan feelings when it matters.

I am not surprised by either ruling. At this point it was just about what I expected. Milliken said exactly what his party wanted him to say and he said it when they wanted him to say it. The Liberals needed him to speed up his "investigation" before the budget vote. For the Liberals to fight an election on the budget would have been futile because the Conservatives are considered strongest on the economy. Their only chance is to parade some kind of cloak and dagger shenanigans trying to paint the Prime Minister as some sort of authoritarian dictator.

The only good news out of this whole sorted affair is that we are likely to have a non-confidence vote the day before the budget vote. Peter Milliken's days as Speaker are numbered. Good riddance. The question for Canadians will be what matters to you more, the economy or alleged government secrecy? Because if it is the economy, the Tories will win in a landslide. Our economy has been one of the best in the world during a substantial global recession. We were lucky to have had Stephen Harper with his hands on the steering wheel to drive us through the fog.

I look forward to an election. Should be great for my site traffic.

19 comments:

  1. Darrell Dexter campaigned on the PC budget in Nova Scotia, could the federal liberals run on Harper's budget using the contempt of parliament as the issue of taking down the Gov?

    @aka_pooch

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  2. Michael Chong for next Speaker!

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  3. Top Can, that's my favourite thing you have ever written. I will forever more campaign for Michael Chong to be Speaker of the House.

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  4. I totally agree with Top Can...time to lobby for him.....great idea!!!

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  5. Well, guess what, the election may not just be about the economy anymore, so, if I'm Harper I get help with passing the budget and over the next year get his collective head out of his ass and use that supposedly big brain of his and remember that, 60% of Canadians do not like him, do not trust him and think he's a bully and doesnt like to share in the playground, use the time out and, either step down or get that clown show in order because, Canada needs a Conservative majority govt and the only thing holding it back right now is arrogance on behalf of the PM and the PMO. This nonsense has gone on long enough, and, its hurting the party.

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  6. Michael Chong for next Speaker!

    Yes he's be perfect.

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  7. At least PM Harper has a name.What cowards hide behind ANONY ASS.Liberals of course.

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  8. To fix the hecklers, we simply need the cameras to be able to record and broadcast the boorish behaviour.

    That is the big problem with the noise and empty seats, the camera does NOT capture and provide evidence for the public.

    Let the public be aware of what MP refuse to enter the house until the national anthem is complete.

    Let the public be aware of which MPs are missing and shouting.

    The rest will take care of itself.

    I would like a speaker to be elected that was very familiar with the rules and history of the house.

    I don't know if Michael Chong has the experience.

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  9. Derrrrr, if i dont like the outcome of something, then der must be a conspiracy!

    Derp derp... going back to watching loose change now!

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  10. Well, canadianSense, are we allowed to have a camera on the outside of the HOC ?. Film the MP's enetering the house with a timestamp on the video, and correlate that with the national anthem some how. If I were in Ottawa, I'd do that.

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  11. i unfortunately agree with anonymous about the 60% number. i have followed politics for many years and have watched as canadians continue to move further left. we have become a socialist country and i don't think we will ever reverse that situation. i am probably the only small government, individual responsiblity conservative in canada. whenever anything goes wrong or needs to be done the first bleat from canadians is why doesn't the government do something. old white guy. a true conservative.

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  12. Certainly Michael Chong is a fair man, and not from the corporatist/Mussolini-loving Bennett- Meighen streak side of the conservative party like Harper. You guys simply have no ethics or principles, it doesn't matter how corrupt your guys get, just as long as they destroy liberal democracy and replace it with government by fiat.
    And forget the blood of those who died to defeat this very form of conservatism in WW2.

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  13. Regarding Bev Oda, I was expecting a yes or no, but what does Milliken give us? "Maybe" and more politics at committee. What a joke.

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  14. You can't shoot the messenger, but long before the outcome of Milliken's wording, it was obvious which way this one would go.
    Okay, I accept that and additionally, he won't be back, so this is his last hurrah. All the individuals that PM Harper left in place rather then replace them with his preferred choices, have come back to haunt him. Lesson learned and in the future he should place people who are party faithful. Do you think the Libs, NDP, Greens, would have it any other way? Not on your life.
    We can move on and see what the 21 and/or the 22 brings forward in regards to a Federal Election. We need to fight smarter, not harder.
    Patiently waiting.

    E Mac

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  15. Milliken ruled that 'on the face' there is an appearance of contempt, disrespect for Parliament.

    That is the opinion of a Liberal, to send the matter to a Coalition Kangaroo Court....
    It was Milliken's parting gift to his party,
    as well as getting his name in the history books.

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  16. Democracy is on CPAC all morning. The spartist block are teaching Canadians on ethis and democracy. The opposition Motion from the Block, is "conduct of the govt."The Block party that shows up in committee with no pricing on any of their bills. They just want $5 BILLION in the budget.
    Milliken is letting the Coalition use the house of commons to smear and slander the govt.all day long for the second, third day? Yeah...real DEMOCRACY.The power of a Liberal speaker. Then he throws Bev Oda into the committee with the wolves.

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  17. Since Speaker Milliken has used words "doubts exist" whether Oda misled House - says maybe she has and maybe she hasn't - there is nothing conclusive in the judgment of the Speaker obviously. Only the most partisan of political pundits could say that Oda was found guilty of anything by the Speaker and any pundit that would, loses credibility, in opinion of Canadians. How could anyone stretch an adjudication of "doubt" into an opinion that is indisputable or irrefutable and conclude someone is guilty?
    I suggest Harper, as a leader and a gentleman, has a duty to support and stand by his female cabinet minister, on this undeserved politically motivated attack by the Liberals, who have stooped to a new low in parliamentary games and character assassination.

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  18. The Liberal/Separatist party and their media are in desperation mode. All these A-Holes have is fear@smear and it's going nowhere. Let the Liberal/Separatists and their media stay down in the gutter throwing their feces around the House, it suits them, and when thats all you've got I guess you have to make the best of it. Liberals and their media are trying to force an election and their attempting to set up a theme or narrative that they feel will work for them, but Liberals and Separatists and their media yapping about ethics is absurd.

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  19. Peter Milliken is the most popular and respected Speaker of the House of Commons in memory. While you may be "not surprised," please provide some evidence that party politics played in his ruling. Please quote from the ruling, saying why you disagree with it. Please say what an appropriate ruling would have been, quoting from the autorities of parliamentary procedure.

    You can't, of course. You are just another screaming moron who likes to abuse the names of any people not belonging to his own political party. The reason why you can't criticize the ruling on its face is because it is correct. Bev Oda says it is correct, and she respects it. Stephen Harper says he respects it. Why you would have some partisan axe to grind, therefore, defies imagination.

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