Conservatives and Liberals told The Hill Timesafter Question Period—featuring withering Conservative attacks on Mr. Mulcair (Outremont, Que.), who was not in Question Period Thursday, for failing to stop the car he was driving up to his Centre Block office after quickly passing unrecognized through the main entrance—that they believed the NDP would relent on a position the party took earlier in the week that it would plough on to next week’s scheduled next Friday, June 21, despite a barrage of bills the government successfully passed through the Commons and the Senate after three weeks of sitting to midnight every day.
“We’re not breaking tonight, no way,” NDP House Leader Nathan Cullen (Skeena-Bulkley Valley, B.C.) told The Hill Times in the early evening as MPs continued debating on their way to yet one more House midnight sitting.
To change the Commons calendar and end before next Friday requires unanimous consent, and there were signals from everyone but the NDP that they were ready to fly off to their ridings after a gruelling three weeks in Parliament and, including Mr. Mulcair’s surprising confrontation with a Mountie, bad news for all three main party leaders.
Mr. Mulcair, who did not appear in Question Period even though he arrived in dramatic fashion on Parliament Hill in the morning, was caught by a smart phone camera and unknown tipsters to CTV when he went through the security centre without stopping, apparently unrecognized by an RCMP officer who wanted him to stop, and then drove through at least two stop signs through a construction zone and did not stop until he reached his Hill parking spot despite Mountie car with red and blue lights flashing behind him.
According to CTV’s report on the incident, when Mr. Mulcair finally did stop, he berated the officer who approached him, asking the Mountie if he knew who he was and was “in for trouble.”
Despite an apology from Mr. Mulcair soon afterward, Conservative MPs derided him in his absence at Question Period, chiding him for “breaking Parliament Hill law,” and several Conservatives asked questions about the rule of law to colleagues who were police officers prior to their election, including former Ontario Provincial Police commissioner Julian Fantino.
The incident took the bite out of NDP attempts to grill the government over the unexpected disclosure by federal Conflict of Interest Commissioner Mary Dawson that she had dropped her investigation into the explosive case involving a $90,172 cheque the former chief of staff to Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) gave to former Conservative Senator Mike Duffy so Sen. Duffy could repay ineligible expenses while an independent accounting firm was in the midst of a forensic examination of the impugned expense claims.
Ms. Dawson announced she dropped her investigation and said at the same time that Mr. Harper’s former chief of staff Nigel Wright, who last month resigned after disclosure of the payment to Sen. Duffy, was under another investigation.
Ms. Dawson did not specify it was an RCMP investigation, but a spokeswoman for the national police force did, after media inquiries stemming from Ms. Dawson’s statement.
“The RCMP continues its investigation to determine whether a criminal act has taken place,” Cpl. Lucy Shorey told The Hill Times and other news outlets in an email.
“It must be meticulous and carefully considered, and examine all information. The RCMP would only lay charges when there is sufficient evidence to do so. As such, we will not be commenting any further on this matter,” Cpl. Shorey said.
Senate Ethics Officer Lyse Ricard had earlier dropped an investigation into Sen. Duffy’s side of the affair because the RCMP had begun looking into the case.
In the House of Commons, Mr. Cullen and other NDP MPs continued to pressure the government over the way it has rammed bills through the House, likely because Mr. Harper wants to prorogue Parliament in the fall to begin a new agenda in the lead-up to the 2015 federal election.
Mr. Cullen, responding to yet another time allocation motion from the government to limit debate, told Government House Leader Peter Van Loan (York-Simcoe, Ont.) the motions limiting debate actually ate up more time in some cases.
“It is incredible,” Mr. Cullen said. “I am amazed by the fact that the government House leader has to actually read these orders because he has said them so many times.”
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson (Niagara, Ont.) replied that the government is taking special efforts to pass the bills, many including criminal law measures, because it believes the legislation is important.
“The House knows that we have had a very extensive justice agenda,” Mr. Nicholson said. “All of these bills are important. People might ask why we did elder abuse at one time or why we cracked down on the sexual exploitation of children. They might ask us why we are doing these things, but these bills are all important.”
Original Article
Source: hilltimes.com
Author: TIM NAUMETZ
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