Beyond The Commons

 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

If only we could do away with Parliament entirely

by Aaron Wherry on Sunday, May 23, 2010 2:42pm - 161 Comments

The government is once more displeased with this democracy it must function within.

The Conservative cabinet has decided to ban its political staffers from appearing as witnesses before committees, setting up a new standoff between the government and opposition MPs just days after resolving the dispute over Afghan detainee documents … “Ministers are the ones who are accountable and answer to Parliament,” said Mr. Soudas, adding that a “government-wide” policy on the issue will be laid out on Tuesday.

As Kady O’Malley notes, this can only mean the Prime Minister will be showing up Tuesday to testify at the ethics committee in Mr. Soudas’ place. And once there, he might be asked when precisely between May 2004 and today did he decide it was not necessary for Parliament to hear from all requested witnesses, and whether senior ministers such as Jason Kenney and Peter MacKay agree with him now.

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  • radha

    Are these rules being made on the fly? Are these the loop[holes of our democracy? Are the opposition part of the checks on governing party? Is there anything to hide? (hidden agenda trait of this government). The poll showed most Canadians wanted audit of M.P.’s expenses irrespective of whether their internal audit was stringent. This is TRANSPARENCY. No money to conduct the audit – then why waste money on 10% out of towner flyers at taxpayer expense? Are the staffers even if they all perform correctly out of reach from citizens (via their M.P.s) questions – like ‘despots’ of previous times. Lets improve on our democracy – let the staffers testify in an open society.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/LaxAtlDfwYow LaxAtlDfwYow

    It strikes me that Stephen Harper is the Canadian political equivalent of Tiger Woods… the best player of his generation but pathologically unable to keep his hubris in his pants.

  • Baez

    Really, really ugly comment thread, much uglier than usual. I have seen the future of Canada and it is Greece: a civil war, on one side savage public sector leeches (red shirts) and on the other side the Canadian people. When people are as hateful as the "red shirts" in this thread violence is absolutely unavoidable, and make no mistake it will be the "red shirts" who initiate violence.

    It's over, Canada, as a viable state. Too ugly, too angry. What international investor would invest in a country of infants who sincerely believe the leader of a minority government is a dictator? Investors look at the insolent, indolent attitude expressed by many in this thread and invest elsewhere. I mean look at this:

    First Red Shirt: Let's face it, Harpie and his cronies belong in Texas and sound like the Republican party. Yee Haa
    Second Red Shirt: Yup – religion, guns and babies, hot dang

    These are actual quotes from above.

    Anti baby. How the $!%@!$#s does one develop an anti-baby agenda? How? Anti-religion is a given with these geniuses, who live in a 95% religious world, but they're explicitly going on about how babies are evil now? PEOPLE! THIS IS NOT COOL!

    I have to concur with the other non-red shirt in this thread: I am now, after reading this thread, embarrassed to be a Canadian. Chidlish, whiney, moochy, anti-baby, anti-free speech, anti-private sector, ugly, insolent.

    • Podium

      You should go live in rural Alberta or Saskatchewan for a while. I grew up and worked there. I'll tell you something about that place. I have never seen a bunch of anti east, anti non-white,anti-gay,anti-french, intolerent people like I have in the prairies.

      I'll tell something else, I recently got hooked up on facebook with a lot of the people that I went to school with back in the seventies and eighties. Out of their hundreds of freinds there is not one black, asian, or middle eastern face. Guess what? They think Harper is just great. They should come live in T.O. for a while. It would really be amusing.

      You sound like a reasonable person. And I really think it would do you a world of good to live in The Battlefords, or Medicine Hat for a while. Perhaps then you wouldn't be spewing out that creamy deluxe with nuts in it. Hell, you might even have a valid opinion then. Come on, anyone can read a news tidbit and draw crude comparisons. So, go on and grow a set of cajones, pack up your family and go live there, and then tell us what you think.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/DerekPearce DerekPearce

      First of all, this is a blog comment board, so toughen up– it does not portend the coming Canadian Civil War for cryin' out loud. International investors likely have sounder sources on which to base their decisions. And that crap about people being "anti-baby"? You've misconstrued other's comments. Er, I think we can be sure that no one on this comment board thinks "babies are evil." Thanks for a laugh though.

    • cooper

      Ugly yes and Canadians angry yes.

  • JACKTHEWHACK

    I can see that Harper's Party's privately paid "communications' firms is hard at work here on this blog trying to spin and explain to us Canadian rubes what our democracy is all about. These blog mercenaries are the lowest of the low, being paid to spew Harper's ideology for minimum wage. And attempt to pass themselves off as the "voice" of the people. How Orwellian is this Prime Minister.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/hollinm hollinm

      JACKTHEWHACK

      Its not your fault if you are a rube. However, we Conservatives don't need anybody to tell you and the rest of the anti Harper crowd that your venom is misplaced. You need to look at the ineffectivness of the parties you support. The opposition parties are in complete control of the election calendar. If they don't like what you and they are apparently seeing exercise the fundamental right of going to an election. Canadians will tell you guys in spades what they think of the parties you support.

      Carry on Rubes :-)

      • lenny

        "Canadians will tell you guys in spades what they think of the parties you support."

        That they continue to support those parties as well?

  • gar

    Who Cares .these committees are all politics.They drag them out at the cost of the taxpayer for months.Strictly showmanship for public consumption.Guys like Pat Martin have not got an ounce of decorum and take full advantage of parliamentary immunity from being sued.He is really a coward who never puts his money where his mouth is outside the safety of the house

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/OntarioTown OntarioTown

      Yawn

  • anon
  • Lord Kitchener's Own

    Nothing says "accountability" like an army of taxpayer-funded political staffers who are banned from testifying about what their bosses had them doing.

    Seriously. As the fox is ultimately the responsible party, what's the problem with banning testimony from the chickens? I'm quite certain that the fox will give us an accurate and transparent account of what went on in the hen-house.

    (Actually, as "the fox" in this case is the Prime Minister, I'm pretty certain that HE'LL refuse to testify too, but you take my point).

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/danby danby

      Simple.
      Effective.
      It's got it all, except accountability.

    • Lord Kitchener's Own

      Ha! I was right.

      The PM sent Baird in instead. So, not only does the committee apparently not get to question the taxpayer-funded staffer they wanted to talk too, they apparently can't question the person he takes his orders from either!

      I'm shocked.

  • James Wolfe

    How about being realistic in what we can do? We can’t get rid of all these clowns on the hill but if a new party was to form, one that actually had polices open to the public scrutiny while it was running. One that actually told us what they would do before getting into power. One that defined essential and non-essential services, one that would not spend more then it took in tax wise, one that started to eliminate some of the waste, some of the departments, duplication, one that actually wanted to get government out of the lives of normal people, a party that stood for something. A party that didn’t spend our money like it grew on trees. A party that supported and promoted our real BNA and UEL history. All the mainstream parties now stand for absolutely nothing and until people realize that the entire system is a mess as is, it will only continue to get worse. Liberal, Tory same old story. They have created the debt, the mess this country has become over the last 4 decades and both parties are clueless in regards to fixing any of this.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/Skinny_Dipper Skinny Dipper

    If the Conservative staffers can't be subpoenaed to testify, then any Canadian who receives a subpoena does not need to speak at any committee.

    • Holly Stick

      So much for law-abiding.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/danby danby

    Mr Harper behaves like someone who has a lot of issues that are gonna need burying.
    Set the groundwork to hide the bodies – Y'know, they're so much easier to hide with a majority

  • danby

    Mr Harper behaves like someone who has a lot of issues that are gonna need burying.
    Set the groundwork to hide the bodies – Y'know, they're so much easier to hide with a majority

  • danby

    Mr Harper behaves like someone who has a lot of issues that are gonna need burying.
    Set the groundwork to hide the bodies – y'know, they're so much easier to hide with a majority

  • cooper

    Instead of a "Tea Party" perhaps a coffee party. If enough people are fed up with the actions of Harper and his band of incompetents, let them make noise. And lots of it. Tim Hortons would be a good place to begin the revolution.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/austinso austinso

    Harper = Napoleon

    Already taken the fiscal conservatives for a ride, and now that he's milked that, he's playing the social conservatives and the bible thumpers to maintain his seat at the head of the trough…

    C'mon folks, how long do you wish to maintain this delusion of the CPC as anything more than a hack political party that is capable of absolutely nothing?

  • Joël Cuerrier

    People who think holding elections define what a democracy is are very stupid. It's not even the most significant element of a democracy.

    Most authoritarian regimes on this planet were elected.

  • Ross

    Give this party enough rope and they'll get the job done,BUT it's unfortunate they're turning this GREAT COUNTRY into a Banana Republic in the eyes of the Civilized world………….A DICTATORSHIP IN THE MAKING.

  • Cam

    We as Canadians are slaves getting F#^@ in the ass by government, and all we do is say thank you may I please have some more .

    The politicians are set for life while we are slaves for life.

    We dont even have basic access to medical care unless we go to another country and pay for our care. Ask all the people dying on waiting lists.

    I have always thought Harper looks like a retard with his squinty eyes and buck teeth, ( no offence to any “special” people )

  • Halo_Override

    No real attempts yet at defending this (just a cheap shot at Kady)… I suppose they're slow to distribute the talking points on Sundays. If Iggy says anything, I guess they can just reply with "I don't know how you do things down in Harvard, Professor, with your university girls and your drug orgies, but here in Canada we do things differently."

    I enjoyed it that Soudas took a little swipe at the US though, that was cute in a disingenuous sort of way.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/aliasrus Incognito

    I take it when Harper campaigned on accountability he meant to the Conservative Party not Canada as a whole.

  • wilson

    Holding a Minister responsible for his/her staffers IS accountability.

  • James McLaren

    Accountability to the Party? Not even that. Conservative Party members are expected to display proper obeisance at all times, and to nod appreciatively at any and all of the Dear Leader's utterances.

  • Incognito

    If that were the case, the ministers should just try to speak instead of them in the first place. I don't how banning someone else from that improves the situation one iota. It only increases the likelihood of not being able to prove anything, and then of course there is no problem(for the conservatives).

  • Lord Kitchener's Own

    Then I early await the Prime Minister's appearance at the committee in Soudas' place, and his honest and fulsome answers to the committee's questions.

    I don't think I'll hold my breath though.

  • wilson

    Liberals, you're in the Enchanted Forest,
    gazing at your reflection in the magic mirror, where an old hag sees a young beauty.

    Your party and your leader both are sitting at 25%.
    Chretien is on bended knee, in 'talks' with Broadbent to try to get 'the fix' in so as LibDippers can get back into govt thru the backdoor.
    It's not Harper and Conservatives that Canadians are rejecting, it's you.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/aliasrus Incognito

    I'm no huge fan of the Liberals or the NDP, but might I remind you that the Conservatives do not have the support of Canadians either.

    Also, I highly doubt that Canadians would dislike the level of cooperation happening in the UK, if it reoccurred here as well.

    Or do you consider the UK case to be some kind of euphemism for copulation as well?

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/OntarioTown OntarioTown

    Wilson, you are just too funny at times and oh, the melodrama. To think that either Chretien or Broadbeent would be on bended knee is so funny.

    They've had discussions apparently (an adult thing to do – discuss) and have not discussed with Libs or NDP.

    What do you think Harper and MacKay did? And, MacKay lied and mislead like a weasel.

  • Gayle

    Sounds like the Reform and the PC's not too long ago…

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

    Yeah, what is holding the CPC back from a clear majority?

  • Incognito

    A combination of Harper, CCRAP, and the Bloc mixed into a pungent nutty flavoured milkshake.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/Open_Democracy Open_Democracy

    Under the guidance of Mr. Harper and his cronies, Canada is rapidly heading toward becoming just another banana republic. We, as a country and as individuals, have so much potential that is being quashed by those that we have elected to serve us – a concept that seems to be lost on them.

    It's hard to remember way back in time when the CPC was a grassroots movement that was founded on the basis of complete accountability to their electorate. The Harperites, and more specifically Mr. Harper, seem to have developed into the exact opposite of what they started out to be.

    http://viableopposition.blogspot.com/

  • cooper

    Soudas is unelected, to who is he accountable. This government would be laughable if they werent so dangerous.

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