Inside Politics

UPDATED - PrivilegeWatch: Liberals take Canadian Wheat Board fight to the floor of the Senate

by Kady O'Malley Posted: December 8, 2011 3:30 PM Last Updated: December 8, 2011 2:15 PM
Hot off the Liberal Senate caucus presses: 

Senator Cowan will rise on Question of Privilege later today concerning the status of Bill C-18 (Canadian Wheat Board Act) in the Senate, given the fact that the Federal Court found yesterday that the government's conduct in introducing the bill was "an affront to the rule of law". 

 
Earlier today, Liberal senators tried unsuccessfully to persuade senate agriculture committee chair Percy Mockler to suspend consideration of the bill, again citing concerns related to yesterday's ruling, and the prospect that the committee, or even the Senate itself, could ultimately be found in contempt should it continue with its work, Mockler, however, ruled that the committee had a mandate to study the bill, and pointed out that even if the committee downed tools and declined to give it further sober, second thought, the bill would be deemed reported back without amendments next Tuesday. 

Unlike the Commons, the Upper House does not give privilege questions precedence over other Chamber business, which means that Cowan will have to wait until after government orders has wrapped up before he can make his case, which will likely happen between 4:00 and 5:30 pm. I'll be keeping an eye on the proceedings, and will update this post as soon as we know more, so stay tuned.

UPDATE: Follow all the action when it gets underway later this afternoon. Mobile-friendly auto-updating text feed available here.

Tags: blackberry jungle, canadian wheat board, privilegewatch, senate