Inside Politics

HomolkaPardonWatch: Oh, for heaven's sakes, Minister Toews ...

by Kady O'Malley Posted: June 16, 2010 12:11 PM Last Updated: June 16, 2010 12:58 PM
Far be it from me to play armchair government house leader, but this whole ridiculous last-minute standoff could have been averted had said government not taken nearly a month to bring the bill in question forward for second reading, and then left the debate hanging for a week while it fussed and fiddled over the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Implementation Act. 

The bill could have been back from committee by now, and well on its way through the Senate - that is, unless it really is more contentious and complicated than those demanding that it be passed with virtually no parliamentary scrutiny would have us believe, in which case it's a wee bit disingenuous to pretend that this is just pointless opposition obstructionism. 

Anyway, earlier today, the NDP proposed a compromise: a stand-alone bill that they claim would prevent Homolka from sneaking in her pardon request before fall, while still allowing parliament to give the legislation put forward by the government a proper airing at committee this fall. 

At one point, it sounded like the Liberals were willing to support that, which would put the government in an awkward position, since it would require unanimous consent to forage ahead down that road, rather than stubbornly sticking to their current all --  all of C-23, that is -- or nothing stance. That's not exactly what the Liberal leader said during his post-caucus scrum, however, so we'll just have to see what happens this afternoon, presumably after a frantic round of negotiations between now and Question Period. 

Really, parliamentarians: I know you're all -- heck, we're all -- desperate to get out of here tomorrow, but that doesn't mean you should just toss aside any notion of actually doing your job, even if it means sitting until next week, when the House is officially scheduled to adjourn for the summer break.  

Tags: adventures in seriously terrible house management, C-23, karlahomolkapardonwatch, you just had to get that Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement through huh?