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

When ministers misspeak

by Aaron Wherry on Friday, March 11, 2011 4:00pm - 27 Comments

Nine years ago, it was a Liberal minister, Art Eggleton, who was the subject of a prima facie finding of privilege by the Speaker.

That finding was referred to the standing committee on procedure and House affairs, but the Liberal majority there decided that Mr. Eggleton had not “deliberately misled” the House and was thus not guilty of contempt. Each of the opposition parties filed a dissenting opinion.

Those reports can be found here.

Tags: Art Eggleton, house of commons, Parliament, privilege

More by Aaron Wherry

brooster2

Very clever, Wherry. You deliberately posted this reminder of a past Liberal parliamentary transgression in order to distract everyone from your real vocation as a Liberal fifth columnist. We're onto you.

Halo_Override

I really didn't understand why the LPC would let him post this, and like you I also concluded it was some sort of sneaky lefty/coalition plot against the Harper Government™.
LdKitchenersOwn

Is that what he's doing?

I thought he was setting up the Tories by suggesting that they use the same rationales they used in the Eggleton case when a decision comes down on the Oda case. If Oda's punished, it'll be a lot more difficult for the Tories to complain that Oda was punished while Eggleton skated if everyone is reminded that the Tories thought at the time that Eggleton skating was wrong, wrong, wrong.

Wherry's setting up the "if it was wrong for Eggleton to get away with it, why is it OK for Oda to get away with it?" argument, isn't he?

brooster2

Exactly. I rest my case…a nefarious fifth columnist, he is. He's using the old double-negative, swing from the left/ feint from the right, smoke behind the mirrors, at no time do the fingers leave the hand maneuver…or something.

It may be a Friday afternoon, but you gotta' get up pretty early in the morning to fool us.

brooster2

I stand corrected…it's a triple-negative maneuver.

Jan

And a nice tie in to the detainee issue before us once again.

LdKitchenersOwn

Yes, it's terribly nefarious of him to suggest that the people who run our country should display a little consistency when it comes to matters of ethics ad accountability.

Guest

Do you suppose he intended to point out the lack of consistency across the board?
LdKitchenersOwn

Yes, of course. Good point. I certainly didn't mean to suggest in any way that the Liberals were correct in the past, simply that the Liberals having done something wrong in the past doesn't make for a good excuse for the Tories to do something wrong now, no matter how many times they try to play that card.

And, imho, the parties should all lean towards getting rid of cabinet ministers who mislead Parliament, not defending them.
Guest

I think Mr Wherry is showing that parliament itself does not have a reliable process to determine guilt. So who gets to? Also I think he is showing that the system wasn't working long before the CPC came along.

SanDiegoDave

Damn, didn't he get the memo?

FVerhoeven

Very funny Mr.Wherry. How long did it take you to find that site to coincide with your intent?
dylan

Yes, this happened. All of these events need to be broadly talked about. But at the same time, referring to past events under different governments in a ploy to detract attention from the real issue is a truly conservative way of thinking. This right here is what happens in question period.
…

Interesting to see the PC / DR coalition in there. I wonder if that was before or after coalitions were suddenly bad

FVerhoeven

Nice try.

Leo

It is ironic that the discussion pertains to the CF taking Afgan prisoners and turning them over to the US military without knowing what happend to them.

Even more apparent is how much nastier ALL the MPs are with each other today as compared to nine years ago.
chet

Liberals clearing…..liberals….

no 'threat to democracy' there though of course.

SanDiegoDave

Well of course it was a threat to democracy, Chet. Seriously, Eggleton was a goof and it sickened me to see the Grits put Party above all else. Eggleton, Dingwall, and the ultimate goof David Collenette, who foisted the 160 million dollar Via cars that magically turned into 400 million dollar Via cars. Lord what a useless bunch they were.

But damnit Chet, it was SUPPOSED TO BE DIFFERENT THIS TIME.

And all I got for voting Tory was Dean Del Mastro (sigh) the shallowest talent pool this side of the fake lake.

M_A_D_world

There was honest hope for change. Maybe someday a party will hold their principles long enough to realize that a good government can get itself re-elected without selling out.
Guest

By voting Tory I think you also sent a message to the rest, I just don't know that they listened.

Keith in Brampton

Too true. Sadly.

Mike T.

I recall Dingwall being exonerated after having to resign, two unlikely things in this case.

FVerhoeven

Clearly the PMO's doing. Yup, all of it the PMO's doing, way back when.
wilson

10 years ago, in 2001, it was a Liberal minister,
Anne McLelland,
who was the subject of a prima facie finding of privilege by the Speaker Milliken.

That finding was referred to the standing committee on procedure and House affairs, but the Liberal majority there decided that ………..same.

And in 2011, the Opposition majority in the committee will make history, by finding any Conservative tossed in their den,
guilty of existing.
Guest

Agreed. but the theme I am getting from the Liberal right now is "Look, they are as bad as we are." It is like they are in a race to bottom. Maybe its always been this way.

LdKitchenersOwn

Actually, I believe the Liberal line is "They're as bad as we used to be" (though I grant that it's hard to believe that they'd be any different given what the LAST GUY who said he was going to be different has done). After all, the Liberals are now three leaders removed from adscam, whereas the guy who's Prime Minister now is actually the SAME GUY who always said that he'd do things differently, he just seems to have forgotten everything he ever said before 2006.

M_A_D_world

This is part of the cycle that grinds on voters sensibilities is that regardless of Party affiliation, Governments leverage rulings to suit themselves.
Unless a Minister p.o.'s the Prime Minister, they walk.
Name one Minister that got fired with the Prime Minister still fighting in their corner for them.