Harper govt. takes twin blows for defying Parliament

The Winnipeg Free Press:

Ottawa - The Harper government has been dealt a double rebuke over its disregard for the rights of MPs and the principles of parliamentary democracy.

The Speaker of the House of Commons ruled Wednesday that the government breached the privilege of Parliament on two matters: its handling of the Oda affair and its refusal to come clean on the costs of corporate tax cuts and its tough-on-crime agenda.

The twin rulings mark the third time Peter Milliken has found the Conservatives to have breached parliamentary privilege. He ruled last year that the government was in breach over its refusal to let MPs see all documents pertaining to the alleged torture of Afghan detainees.

Parliamentary procedure expert Ned Franks said no government in Canadian history has been cited so many times for ignoring the rights of Parliament. He offered two possible explanations.

"(The rulings) suggest, to put it kindly, that the government is, at a minimum, ignorant of the rules and principles governing parliamentary democracy and, to put it unkindly, that they don't give a damn and they'll try to get away with what they can."

Milliken ruled that International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda breached parliamentary privilege by misleading MPs about the alteration of a document. He did not rule on whether her action was deliberate, as opposition parties have charged.

He also found that the government breached parliamentary privilege by refusing to provide all documents requested by the Commons finance committee on the cost of corporate tax cuts and justice initiatives such as the expansion of prisons.

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