"Harper Government" found in contempt of parliament for third time in one year - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Tinordi · 03-09-2011, 05:46 PM

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1935375/

Speaker Peter Milliken has found the Conservatives in contempt of Parliament, handing powerful ammunition to opposition claims the Harper government’s autocratic behaviour represents an abuse of power.

The ruling is only “on its face,” and a Commons committee will spend next week deciding what action to take. But the Speaker’s ruling -- the third finding of contempt against the Tories in one year -- represents a powerful rebuke to a government that has repeatedly claimed the right to protect information on the basis of cabinet confidence.

worth · 03-09-2011, 05:53 PM

REVOLUTION!!!!!

SebC · 03-09-2011, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by worth

REVOLUTION!!!!!

That's the approximate level of discourse the Harper Government wants Canadians to engage in.

mykalberta · 03-09-2011, 06:11 PM

If the Liberals want to force an election based on this before the budget comes down as was hypothesized by CTV/The Globe earlier in the week then I think as the Conservatives will take that Election challenge.

Contempt of Parliment sounds bad until you read what its in contempt of.

FlamesAddiction · 03-09-2011, 06:13 PM

It's meaningless if the opposition can't (or won't) pounce on it though.

Devils'Advocate · 03-09-2011, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Contempt of Parliment sounds bad until you read what its in contempt of.

Yeah. A party that ran on a platform of "transparency" and "accountability" continue to hide information from the opposition and violate election rules. Nothing to be concerned about.

octothorp · 03-09-2011, 07:14 PM

I think the opposition is going to vote against the government and send us to an election. This is about as close as the opposition is ever going to get to a favourable situation. If they don't, the Conservatives will be able to just wait things out until the best possible opportunity.

Huntingwhale · 03-09-2011, 07:18 PM

CaptainCrunch · 03-09-2011, 07:56 PM

Really? This would be the worst time for the opposition to collapse the government. The Conservatives are polling in majority territory, the other parties are broke and ineffectively lead.

I would hope that they have more common sense then to trigger an election right now.

robocop · 03-09-2011, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I would hope that they have more common sense then to trigger an election right now.

uh..... I cringe just thinking about this happening. They seem like their prime concern is taking power with much less actual regard for the state of Canadian affairs.

peter12 · 03-09-2011, 11:01 PM

I wonder how often Liberal governments under Chretien were guilty of the same thing?

fatso · 03-09-2011, 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peter12

I wonder how often Liberal governments under Chretien were guilty of the same thing?

Assuming the Liberals were, would that form a complete defence to these allegations against the Conservatives?

peter12 · 03-09-2011, 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatso

Assuming the Liberals were, would that form a complete defence to these allegations against the Conservatives?

No, just wondering...

A few things, Liberal speaker, Conservative minority. Not exactly the most credible accusations given the institutional limitations facing the Canadian constitution and the Harper government.

Truth is, the Canadian Prime Minister is far more over-powered in comparision to his American counterpart.

Granted the Conservatives are a bunch of partisan shrews, but how does that make them different from anyone else in Canadian politics?

octothorp · 03-09-2011, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Really? This would be the worst time for the opposition to collapse the government. The Conservatives are polling in majority territory, the other parties are broke and ineffectively lead.

I would hope that they have more common sense then to trigger an election right now.

Not really an option. If they continue to wait, it's very likely that the Conservative margin will stay the same or grow, and then the Conservatives will call an election at the time that suits them best. At that point, a Conservative majority will be pretty much automatic. Neither the leadership or financial situations of any minority parties is going to change in the next year.

Ultimately, they need to call the election on principle, not on political opportunity, and let the election trail take care of the rest. If you can't make gains during a time when all the news points to corruption and arrogance, you never will.

Either way, I don't give the Liberals much of a chance of making inroads. They missed their opportunity in not working harder to force an election last fall. Basically, it's a choice of forcing an election now and having a fighting chance at another Conservative minority, or waiting six months and conceding a Conservative majority.

CaptainCrunch · 03-09-2011, 11:25 PM

My gut tells me that the Liberal's want an election so they can get hammered on bounce Ignatieff and take some time to rebuild their party (hopefully not under Bob Rae who seems to hunger for the job).

Ignatieff might want to call an election lose it and then resign and move back to the States.

Jack Layton knows that any inroads that he's going to make are going to be at the expense of the Liberal's and I think inroads or not he steps aside after this election.

SebC · 03-09-2011, 11:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peter12

A few things, Liberal speaker, Conservative minority. Not exactly the most credible accusations given the institutional limitations facing the Canadian constitution and the Harper government.

Milliken is a well respected member of parliament. You don't get the to be the longest-serving Speaker of the House ever, and only the second to come from an opposition party, if your colleagues don't think you're a fair arbiter.

Honestly, if your best defense of the conservatives is an ad hominem attack on Milliken... well, frankly, I'd have expected you to do better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by peter12

Granted the Conservatives are a bunch of partisan shrews, but how does that make them different from anyone else in Canadian politics?

Possibly, because they claim not to be. Or because there's more than one level of partisan shrewness.

FanIn80 · 03-09-2011, 11:37 PM

At this stage in the game, I don't care who wins. All I want is a friggin majority Government so I don't have to keep listening to this crap. It's like there's more time spent arguing over who gets to govern than there is actually governing.

Enough. Get off your friggin knees and do your jobs.

octothorp · 03-09-2011, 11:38 PM

Yeah, I think it's s*** or get off the can time for Ignatieff. I don't know about returning to the US, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him completely vanish from Canadian politics if he losses big. Which he almost certainly will.

rubecube · 03-09-2011, 11:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peter12

I wonder how often Liberal governments under Chretien were guilty of the same thing?

Quote:

Originally Posted by peter12

No, just wondering...

A few things, Liberal speaker, Conservative minority. Not exactly the most credible accusations given the institutional limitations facing the Canadian constitution and the Harper government.

Truth is, the Canadian Prime Minister is far more over-powered in comparision to his American counterpart.

Granted the Conservatives are a bunch of partisan shrews, but how does that make them different from anyone else in Canadian politics?

For a supposed philosophy major, I find the number of logical fallacies in these posts quite humourous.

Caged Great · 03-10-2011, 12:10 AM

All I hope is that the Conservatives only get a minority once again in another election. That and that Ignatieff and the leadership of the Liberals goes away because they are not very good at their jobs.