Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

This actually happened

by Aaron Wherry on Friday, March 12, 2010 3:31pm - 38 Comments

Mark Kingwell has an essay about political civility in the new issue of the Walrus that I encourage you all to read—though it doesn’t appear to be online yet—and which I’m going to write about next week. In the meantime, here is Marlene Jennings’ supplementary question yesterday.

Hon. Marlene Jennings (Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the calls for public accountability from the Minister of State for the Status of Women and Rahim Jaffer are growing louder everyday. They are being called the Bonnie and Clyde of the Conservative Party. they are young, Conservative and above the law. Members of the Prime Minister’s inner circle like Kory Teneycke are saying that the minister owes an explanation and an apology and that Rahim owes the same. Is this what the Prime Minister meant when he sang “I get by with a little help from my friends, oh, I get high with a little help from my friends” a few months ago?

Tags: civility, decorum, Helena Guergis, house of commons, Kory Teneycke, Mark Kingwell, Marlene Jennings, Parliament, Question Period, Rahim Jaffer

More by Aaron Wherry

wilson

Actually, that's pretyy funny,
but only because PMSH is so straight it hurts.
Iccyh

On the one hand, that is completely tasteless, and completely pointless. MPs should seriously have better things to do and better questions to ask.

On the other, Andrew Coyne's blog post about Jaffer has only a few less comments than his post on the budget, yours about the "the cycle" has more than your commons post of the day (about the Afghan detainee issue), Colby Cosh's blog post has another 100 more, and it looks like the article from the magazine is going to get about as many before long as well.

Yeah, this is an idiotic issue for MPs to be pursuing, but I don't think that we (both you in the media and us following and commenting) and really claim any kind of high ground here; we're no better.

Dot

Poetic justice delayed is poetic justice denied.

Iccyh

Hey, I'm enjoying all of this as much as anyone else and that's exactly why I don't think I (or anyone else who's been covering/following this) is really in a great position to criticize Jennings. It's entirely possible that all of this attention managed to convince a MP or two that this actually matters, or at least might be worth a few points in a poll.

biff

Today's Liberal party:

where the policies of the day are forged….after gym class and just before "home room."

My goodness, it didn't take Iggy long to transform from high minded academic, to gutter politician.

It's amazing what a desperate desire for power will do.

http://intensedebate.com/people/RunningGag RunningGag

As opposed to what the CPC has done over the past couple of years? if you're going to be critical at least be fair about it.

Seriously, Mr. Harper has done everything in his power to remain in power. He has taken his party's policies of openness, transparency and accountability, and not only ignored them, but flaunted it. He's been a bully; intimidating and mocking his opponents. He's lied and mislead Canadian.

I'm not saying that the LPC has been any better, but at least see it from both sides.
Blues Clair

Thumbs up to biff, for not veering wildly off topic. Bravo!

Anyways, I thought Marlene Jennings question was quite funny.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Thwim Thwim

Stopped clock syndrome

Dot

Btw Aaron was a listed co-author on the mag piece with Colby Cosh with Chris Sorensen.
http://intensedebate.com/people/WDM WDM

The hell with all of them.

http://intensedebate.com/people/TJCook TJCook

I sympathize, and often feel the same way you do. But this is the road to apathy, which would suit "them" just fine.

No matter how much things may sicken you, "a pox on all their houses" is the road to ruin.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Gaunilon Gaunilon

Yes, Marlene, this is exactly what he meant. He's running a crime syndicate with Yo-yo Ma.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Crit_Reasoning Crit_Reasoning

If anyone wants to understand the inner workings of Marlene Jennings's brain, check out Brian Topp's Coalition Memoirs.
http://intensedebate.com/people/WDM WDM

Almost hard to believe her and Pierre Poilievre couldn't find a way to fix EI isn't it?
http://intensedebate.com/people/hardmouth hardmouth

ahhaha yeah it's kind of fitting to be mocked mercilessly for singing Beatles' songs when your entire reason for being is to enact harsher drug laws. Or if you make these lame ads: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSdUUkdb2G4

This being said, her question was totally inappropriate…. but I'm not sure it's really fair to hang the lack of decorum in the house on the Liberal party alone.
http://intensedebate.com/people/hardmouth hardmouth

ahhaha yeah it's kind of fitting to be mocked mercilessly for singing Beatles' songs when your entire reason for being is to enact harsher drug laws. Or if you make these lame ads: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSdUUkdb2G4

This being said, her question was totally inappropriate…. but I'm not sure it's really fair to hang the lack of decorum in the house on the Liberal party alone.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Crit_Reasoning Crit_Reasoning

Almost hard to believe that Ignatieff found that arrangement to be an acceptable compromise!

It must have been obvious to everyone involved that putting one of the Liberals' most unhinged partisans in the same room as one of the Tories' most unhinged partisans (for a whole summer) was not going to result in a harmonious working relationship, let alone a solution.

frobisher

Is there an 'hinged' partisan?

Its the 'Voyage of the Damned' on permanent replay these days.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Crit_Reasoning Crit_Reasoning

Dude, if his entire reason for being was to enact harsher drug laws, he'd probably have enacted them by now.

He's had, like, four years now and I still see no signs of harsher drug laws. That tells me it's probably not a priority, let alone a raison d'être. This makes me happy, because I support marijuana decriminalization.
http://intensedebate.com/people/hardmouth hardmouth

Your right, his main raison d'être is to stay in power. After that it's to enact harsher drug sentences.
http://intensedebate.com/people/hardmouth hardmouth

(although it is comforting that some conservatives have reasonable opinions toward drug policy. Thanks )
http://intensedebate.com/people/A_logician A_logician

Lorne Gunter a few years back wrote a column in favour of legalizing marijuana. Parse that if you can.

http://intensedebate.com/people/PhilCP PhilCP

Reminds me of another Gunter column from many years ago praising soccer as "The Great Game"; that one caught me off-guard.

http://intensedebate.com/people/madeyoulook madeyoulook

Parse it later. It's Friday, pointy-eared dude. Pass the Cheetos.
http://intensedebate.com/people/madeyoulook madeyoulook

We common folk can snicker at the Huff & Puff couple all we like. Maclean's can write as much or as little as it wants, and we can choose to read it or ignore it.

PARLIAMENT is a different ball game. The whole Dhalla nonsense, and show-your-Olympic-red-mittens on the floor of the House, and on and on, and now this.

they are young, Conservative and above the law.
Do you have any evidence they are above the law? Speak up. Otherwise, shut up about it on the floor of the House, or have the guts to repeat this crap outside of the House.

Final Q for Ms. Jennings. Why are you trying to outb*tch Ms. Guergis? Do you really want that title?

http://intensedebate.com/people/Jack_Mitchell Jack Mitchell

While agreeing in general with your comment here, one specificity –

Do you have any evidence they are above the law?</blockquote
– could be questioned. Jaffer is one thing, but I guarantee you that you will face consequences if, enraged, you throw your footwear at airport security personnel. Guergis was absolutely bailed on that by somebody, owing to her status as a Cabinet Minister. You don't get winked at that for that kind of thing.

http://intensedebate.com/people/sea_n_mountains sea_n_mountains

yeah. had i tried that i guarantee you i am in cuffs. like teneckye said anyone else is going to be yelling 'don't tase me bro' shortly after they pull anyone of a number of maneuvers she attempted.

Iccyh

And that's also exactly why I don't think I is really in a great position to not finally sign up for an intense debate account.

Sigh.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Crit_Reasoning Crit_Reasoning

You is really in a great position to finally sign up for an ID account when you is willing to edit your own comments.

Sigh. ;-)

http://intensedebate.com/people/PhilCP PhilCP

Nice!!
http://intensedebate.com/people/s_c_f s_c_f

For Liberal MPs to be talking about other MPs being "above the law", that takes a lot of chutzpah.

wilson

ALL Parliamentarians are above the law,
when in the House.
Parliamentary immunity allows them to say what ever they want, without civil or criminal laws able to touch them.
Parliamentarians are UNACCOUNTABLE while physically in the House.

MacLean's Regular

What''s tasteless is the Conservative government sending taxpayer funded flyers to Canadian homes calling the opposition antisemites, terrorist enablers and child predator supporters.

Compared to that, this is flirtation.

Grow a thicker skin, you Conservative crybabies. If you can dish it out, you can bloody well take it.
commentator

The real point surely is that Question Period is broken. Non-questions get non-answers and the only intent is to be more snarky and rude than the previous speaker. This demeans us all, and until we say this is completely unacceptable, it'll continue. The whole Jaffer issue is, of course, ready-made for QP–and proves my point. One way to begin to alter this is for the Speaker to get tough, but unfortunatelyt he's a timid fellow more interested in keeping his perks than genuinely presiding.

wilson

MPs are immune to the laws when sitting in the House.
What's wrong is that the sessions are broadcast across the nation.

wilson

Are Liberals advocating that every time a citizen speeds or/and fails a breathalizer test,
his/her vehicle is searched followed by a strip search is justifiable police practice?
They were looking for open liquer, right?

That's what happened to Jaffer.

E.B.

But, isn't galling to "law and order" conservatives that Rahim gets off on a technicallity? I mean, really, nobody is denying that he was over the limit and that he did have cocaine.

Damn, that really must gnaw at the base.

http://intensedebate.com/people/NorthernPoV NorthernPoV

Yes. Our Con brethren are first to decry when perceived bad guys get-off-on-a-technicality.

Don't count on the Jaffer case annoying their base, though. They are not good at the "abstract thinking" that might be required to grasp that one of their own is at fault.