Blue Like You

Archive for November 20th, 2007

2:30 p.m. Update: The Question Period theatrics rage on. This time it was Kitchener-Centre MP Karen Redman making all sorts of wild allegations regarding Justice Minister Rob Nicholson.

Poor Rob was getting a bit irritated. He requested that she and her fellow Liberals either refrain from making slanderous remarks in the House, or else “have the guts” to take it outside.

I’ll try to supply Hansard references when available.

This Parliamentary privilege this is really quite remarkable. Apparently you can say anything in the House of Commons and not be held accountable for it. Yet the whole thing is televised for everyone in Canada to see; whether or not the truth is being spoken.

I just don’t get it.

2:55 p.m. update - Monte Solberg tells the Member that she should apologize to the Minister of Justice.

Hear-hear!

3:05 pm Update: Peter Van Loan rises on a Question of Privilege to ask the Speaker to review the words that the leader of the Opposition used when referring to the Prime Minister in the context of not telling the truth, or something to that effect. The Speaker said he didn’t hear the word “lying” used, but would look into it.

- End of ‘Question Period’ Live-Blogging

Christian Conservative has a bit more detail - Oops… Dion to apologize to Harper?

All the tawdry details now available from Hansard.

This was a thing of beauty. (Links added by moi)

Hansard, Oral Questions 14:20:

Hon. Stéphane Dion (Leader of the Opposition, Lib.):
Mr. Speaker, since the Prime Minister misled the House regarding the allegations of torture, what would stop him from trying to do the same in the Mulroney case, about when he saw Mr. Schreiber’s letters, about why the Department of Justice interrupted its internal investigation, or about Mr. Schreiber’s extradition?

Is he not trying to mislead the House on the Mulroney case, as he did on the allegations of torture?

Right Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Liberal Party is wrong. There is evidence of allegations in a case we learned about recently, two weeks ago. The Minister of Foreign Affairs explained this case to the House of Commons. We are working with the government of Afghanistan on the arrangement in place for investigating and resolving this situation.

Hon. Stéphane Dion (Leader of the Opposition, Lib.):
Mr. Speaker, the deception must stop: cover-up on torture and cover-up on Mulroney. Will the Prime Minister stop the cover-ups? Will he agree to testify under oath at the Mulroney inquiry?

Right Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, the terms of the inquiry, as the government already has said, will be set independently by Professor Johnston. I do not know whether he will accept the position of the current leader of the Liberal Party that there be an unlimited inquiry, or of the past leader of the Liberal Party that there be no public inquiry, or of the future leader of the Liberal Party, who says there should be a limited public inquiry. I am sure one of these Liberal positions will be adopted.

What I can say is that when the Leader of the Opposition alleges vast conspiracies and then votes by abstaining to keep the government in office, nobody takes his allegations seriously.

I love it.

Meanwhile - Iggy remains strangely (or wisely) silent.

MP’s want to hear quickly from Schreiber, former PM - Star.

Le Politico - James Travers conspicuously distances himself from official Liberal position.

If you missed CTV’s Question Period at noon on Sunday, there is a great interview with Bob Rae & Tom Flanagan still available on the Politics page.

CBC - MP’s tempers flair at House ethics committee meeting.