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UPDATED: On Irwin Cotler's question of privilege
- November 29, 2011 2:38 PM |
- By Laura Payton
Readers may recall Irwin Cotler bringing a question of privilege to the speaker over calls to his constituents implying he would be resigning.
The callers ask constituents whether they would be willing to vote Conservative and, if asked why they're calling, say that there is an impending by-election. Cotler says that's absolutely not true: he's been the MP for 12 years and was just re-elected last May 2.
When iPolitics' Elizabeth Thompson looked into it, Saulie Zajdel, Cotler's Conservative competition in the last spring's election, told her he had nothing to do with the calls and that "it is a party thing."
Conservative Party Spokesman Fred Delorey told Thompson the party doesn't comment on operation matters.
Cotler spoke to the question of privilege Tuesday morning (see first video below). This is how Government House Leader Peter Van Loan responded - variously, by arguing the rumour's been out there for 12 years anyway, that it's a Charter right for the pollster to be able to say they don't definitively know that Cotler isn't stepping down, and that, if the speaker rules in Cotler's favour, he's insulating MPs from criticism, leaving pundits and journalists liable to be found in breach of privilege.
Cotler rose in response to Van Loan immediately afterwards (see second video below.)
Update: Here's Cotler writing in the Montreal Gazette about the issue.
Update #2: Cotler's office says the reports they're getting from constituents are that the callers *start* by mentioning an upcoming by-election - the callers don't wait to be pressed to mention it.
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About the Author
- Laura Payton Laura Payton has covered the Hill in a number of formats over the years, starting as a TV producer in a national bureau before returning to print reporting, her first love. Except for a short deviation covering crime in Vancouver, she’s spent most of her career scrumming MPs and drinking weak coffee at House of Commons committee meetings on issues like health, international development, Afghan detainees and the environment. Originally from northern Saskatchewan, she still thinks of herself as a prairie girl despite spending most of her adult life in Ottawa.
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