Members of the House of Commons’ public accounts committee are set to trade in their Easter break for an F-35 investigation, after the Liberals and NDP teamed up to request an emergency meeting in Ottawa.
Liberal MP Gerry Byrne initiated the process, requesting Friday that members convene in the next few days to begin their study on the auditor general’s scathing spring report on the F-35 procurement process.
“The sooner the better,” Byrne said. “This obviously has to take huge priority.”
But Byrne is the only Liberal on the committee, and to get a meeting called during the break, he needed the support of three other members. There are six Conservatives and three New Democrats who sit on public accounts. The three NDP MPs – Malcolm Allen, Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe and Matthew Dubé – backed him up.
“We’ve decided to go ahead and do that,” Allen said. “The F-35 is clearly top of mind for a lot of Canadians. There’s a great deal of interest in it. I think folks want us to get underway as quickly as we possibly can.”
But before the NDP agreed to sign the letter to the clerk, they wanted to consult with the Conservative members to find out if they supported meeting next week. In January, the NDP recalled the health committee early to discuss Jim Flaherty’s surprise announcement on the new funding formula for health transfers to the provinces. The Conservatives used their majority to shut it down within half an hour.
“What we need to do is make sure the Conservatives are also on side if we really want to get to the bottom of this,” NDP spokesman Marc-André Viau said.
Conservative MP Bryan Hayes told the NDP Friday afternoon that his side of the bench would show up if a meeting was called, sealing the deal.
“It’s no guarantee that they will work with us,” Viau said. “But at least it seems a bit more open than the last time we tried to recall the health committee, when they said from the start it would be a waste of time.”
Once the clerk receives the signed letter from the NDP, a meeting can be scheduled within five days. Members must receive 48 hours notice.
The question is not only when the study will begin, but what breadth it will have.
At the last public accounts meeting before the two-week Easter break, Conservative MP Andrew Saxton tabled a motion suggesting members meet April 24 to determine a witness list and an agenda for an F-35 study. In a statement to iPolitics Friday, Saxton repeated that the Conservatives welcome a study, and said that at the next meeting, they will push to pass their motion calling for one.
But opposition members are worried the Conservatives will use their majority to limit the number and diversity of witnesses called to testify during the study.
“I hope they don’t travel down the same path they did with the G8 report, where they limited it basically to one appearance by the auditor general and the two ministers,” Allen said. “I’m hopeful that they learned that lesson, and they will want to have a good cross-section of folks who can shed light on why the Auditor General had such a damning report on the F-35s.”
Next week is an ideal time to investigate the F-35s, Byrne said, because members won’t be distracted by other parliamentary duties. His witness wish list includes Auditor General Michael Ferguson, Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page, and officials from National Defence, Public Works, and Industry Canada.
“We can devote each and every day next week exclusively to this issue. We could get an awful lot of committee time in.”
The political timing is appealing, too.
“A week is a lifetime in politics and the Conservatives are desperate to change the channel. Canadians deserve some honesty, transparency and accountability from this Prime Minister and his government now – not later,” Byrne said.
Original Article
Source: ipolitics
Author:
Liberal MP Gerry Byrne initiated the process, requesting Friday that members convene in the next few days to begin their study on the auditor general’s scathing spring report on the F-35 procurement process.
“The sooner the better,” Byrne said. “This obviously has to take huge priority.”
But Byrne is the only Liberal on the committee, and to get a meeting called during the break, he needed the support of three other members. There are six Conservatives and three New Democrats who sit on public accounts. The three NDP MPs – Malcolm Allen, Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe and Matthew Dubé – backed him up.
“We’ve decided to go ahead and do that,” Allen said. “The F-35 is clearly top of mind for a lot of Canadians. There’s a great deal of interest in it. I think folks want us to get underway as quickly as we possibly can.”
But before the NDP agreed to sign the letter to the clerk, they wanted to consult with the Conservative members to find out if they supported meeting next week. In January, the NDP recalled the health committee early to discuss Jim Flaherty’s surprise announcement on the new funding formula for health transfers to the provinces. The Conservatives used their majority to shut it down within half an hour.
“What we need to do is make sure the Conservatives are also on side if we really want to get to the bottom of this,” NDP spokesman Marc-André Viau said.
Conservative MP Bryan Hayes told the NDP Friday afternoon that his side of the bench would show up if a meeting was called, sealing the deal.
“It’s no guarantee that they will work with us,” Viau said. “But at least it seems a bit more open than the last time we tried to recall the health committee, when they said from the start it would be a waste of time.”
Once the clerk receives the signed letter from the NDP, a meeting can be scheduled within five days. Members must receive 48 hours notice.
The question is not only when the study will begin, but what breadth it will have.
At the last public accounts meeting before the two-week Easter break, Conservative MP Andrew Saxton tabled a motion suggesting members meet April 24 to determine a witness list and an agenda for an F-35 study. In a statement to iPolitics Friday, Saxton repeated that the Conservatives welcome a study, and said that at the next meeting, they will push to pass their motion calling for one.
But opposition members are worried the Conservatives will use their majority to limit the number and diversity of witnesses called to testify during the study.
“I hope they don’t travel down the same path they did with the G8 report, where they limited it basically to one appearance by the auditor general and the two ministers,” Allen said. “I’m hopeful that they learned that lesson, and they will want to have a good cross-section of folks who can shed light on why the Auditor General had such a damning report on the F-35s.”
Next week is an ideal time to investigate the F-35s, Byrne said, because members won’t be distracted by other parliamentary duties. His witness wish list includes Auditor General Michael Ferguson, Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page, and officials from National Defence, Public Works, and Industry Canada.
“We can devote each and every day next week exclusively to this issue. We could get an awful lot of committee time in.”
The political timing is appealing, too.
“A week is a lifetime in politics and the Conservatives are desperate to change the channel. Canadians deserve some honesty, transparency and accountability from this Prime Minister and his government now – not later,” Byrne said.
Original Article
Source: ipolitics
Author:
No comments:
Post a Comment