Posted on 05/13/2005 3:00:46 AM PDT by Clive
OTTAWA (CP) - Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson has spoken with Prime Minister Paul Martin and consulted constitutional experts this week as Parliament descends into chaos.
"The Governor General is monitoring the situation very closely," said an official. Martin's office would not confirm the conversation but pointed out that they speak often about her schedule. Clarkson has been thrust into the midst of a political storm with the opposition calling on her to take control of what they call an unworkable Parliament.
The opposition grabbed control of the House of Commons on Thursday, shut it down, and asked for Clarkson to help trigger an election.
The one-day walkout was the boldest move yet by the Bloc Quebecois and the Tories to demonstrate that the minority Liberals no longer hold power.
"We've now demonstrated three days in a row (that) the government does not have the confidence of the House," Harper said.
"It could go on until the government or the Governor General is forced to admit that the government has lost its mandate to govern the country."
The Governor General has the authority to dissolve Parliament and order an election - or consider whether the Oppostion is capable of forming a government - if she deems the House has lost confidence in the ruling government. She can also advise the prime minister.
But democractic convention stipulates that the government should first test the confidence of the House, which Martin has said he will do next Thursday.
A federal official said the prime minister called Clarkson this week but he wasn't aware of what they discussed.
He also said she has consulted "well known and reputable" constitutional experts.
The prime minister has promised two confidence votes on the federal budget next Thursday but the opposition wants a vote immediately. They're worried that a Tory MP with cancer - Darrel Stinson - won't make it to a late-week vote because he needs surgery.
A senior government official said the prime minister won't be taking any direction from Clarkson.
"The Governor General receives advice from her first minister. She doesn't tender it," the official said.
The opposition's appealed for Clarkson's intervention after they shut down most of the workings of Parliament on Thursday.
First they boycotted some parliamentary committees, then they powered through a motion to close the House of Commons just before noon.
Martin had to suspended a cabinet meeting and his ministers scurried down the Centre Block staircase to vote on the motion.
The government lost 152-144.
Within minutes, tour guides were escorting camera-toting visitors across a barren lower chamber as the daily theatre of question period was scrubbed.
Martin responded to the opposition with a new $170-million aid package for Sudan and cited it as proof his government is still functioning.
"Canadians get up in the morning and they go to work," he said. "I think parliamentarians should do the same."
The Conservatives and Bloc say the Liberals can't govern until they allow an immediate vote of confidence.
The Conservatives will fight the Liberal plan to delay the votes until Thursday. They want them by Monday at the latest and say they will vote against any motion to schedule a confidence showdown for Thursday.
Stinson's vote could be critical in a deadlocked Commons. The vote will be so tight that the result depends on how three Independent MPs vote.
But the prime minister said he will not change the date of the confidence motion and a possible election call.
"There is an election in British Columbia (on Tuesday)," Martin said.
"The Queen is arriving on Tuesday and Wednesday (for a visit to Saskatchewan and Alberta) and I think it's very important that we respect that."
Liberal whip Karen Redman says her party and the NDP are still showing up for work.
"There is work being done," she said.
"We're reporting into work - we're punching the clock. We're here doing what Canadians sent us less than a year ago to do, and that's to do the business of government."
A defeat of the budget next Thursday would pave the way for a June 27 election.
The Bloc and Tories say they're not willing to wait.
They say the Liberals lost the confidence of the House in a vote earlier this week and they're determined to prove it by shutting down Parliament.
The Liberals' frailty was underscored when Independent MP David Kilgour demanded 500 Canadian soldiers be sent to Sudan.
He warned that the Liberals might not get his key vote on the budget unless he sees enough Canadian boots on the ground in Darfur.
He said he was unimpressed with Martin's promise to deploy up to 100 Canadian Forces personnel and hinted he might vote to defeat the government.
I live in the Annex area of Toronto (with Forest Hill on the other side) so you can imagine. But I listen all day long to the proles whining that they need more 'affordable' goodies and it's up to TheRich or anybody except themselves to provide them. And I watch the incessant ads for Lotto tickets that reassure the proles that it's all a matter of luck -- that you will be able to "live large"; i.e. do nothing all day but buy things, if you become one of 'the fortunate' as opposed to the 'less fortunate' who did not get that lottery win.
I wouldn't miss this for the world. It's like a ringside seat at a train wreck. Lots more fun than an American election which is so orderly and organized.
I prefer to see train wrecks from a considerable distance.
To the degree that you are correct in your analysis of Hogtown 'proles', my BC mountain hideaway looks better and better all the time.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.