Inside Politics

UPDATED: Del Mastro gives Liberals one last chance to "come clean" on allegedly vast @Vikileaks30 conspiracy

by Kady O'Malley Posted: March 1, 2012 1:30 PM Last Updated: March 1, 2012 1:46 PM
UPDATE/RECAP: Well, that was weird -- and yeah, the (updated) headline pretty much says it all: after much self-righteous harrumphing over the "sleazy, underhanded" attack on the character and reputation of the Honourable Member for Provencher, Dean Del Mastro put the Liberals -- as a collective -- on notice: Because he's a generous soul, he will give them -- until Tuesday to disclose the full extent of the party's involvement in the creation and promotion of the twitter account that was operated now former research staffer Adam Carroll, or so help him, he'll move that motion to call Carroll to testify for realsies.

Over to you, Liberals! 

---

Prime ministerial parliamentary secretary Dean Del Mastro will get a brief respite from what appears to have become his new full-time job serving as Chief Robocall Question Deflecter in the House and on the panel circuit in order to present his motion to call -- or, as he would likely prefer it be characterized, 'haul' -- former Liberal research staffer Adam Carroll before Ethics to be questioned over his creation of the @Vikileaks30 twitter account, on the somewhat dubious grounds that Carroll had made use of "House of Commons resources" to conceal his "anonymous public attacks on a Member of Parliament". 

As explained at length earlier this week, Del Mastro is almost certainly doing so before the wrong committee, as such matters are the exclusive purview of Procedure and House Affairs or, as Liberal House Leader Marc Garneau pointed out yesterday in the House in response to Public Safety Minister Vic Toews' privilege claim, the Board of Internal Economy. It's worth noting that if he chose to pursue the issue in the latter venue, any such investigation  would take place behind closed doors, far from the glare of the television cameras.

In any case, the meeting is scheduled to kick off at 11am. but members will spend the first hour on other business, with the motion debate not set to take place until noon. Check back for full coverage! 

Mobile friendly text-only feed available here.

Tags: adam carroll, blackberry jungle, dean del mastro, ethics committee liveblogging, motion to make members put motions before the correct committee, vikileaks30