Controversy might push us into an unwanted election

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/10/2020 (1788 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

“After having been fed one story, then another when caught out, and now yet another one in WE’s latest disclosure, parliamentarians need to ensure that the truth does not, actually, constitute a fourth version of events.”

So declared Conservative House Leader Gerard Deltell on Monday in regards to the latest corruption and COVID-19 conflation committee controversy, and yes, that is a lot of alliteration from a confused columnist.

Here’s the latest in a nutshell: The Conservatives wanted a special anti-corruption committee to investigate COVID-19 spending as well as the WE charity corruption scandal. (Of course, the idea is somewhat dead on arrival as the Liberals would never agree to a committee having the name “anti-corruption” anywhere in its title — it presumes guilt.)

The Bloq and Conservatives comfortably moved forward with this committee. Perhaps they viewed it through multiple lenses – perhaps as a method by which to improve Canadian governance as well as to investigate/throw dirt on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberals.

I suspect the BQ/Tories want us to view it through the more charitable lens of them worrying about Canadians, but during this turbulent time, it’s hard to see it as not being politics as usual.

The background is that the Conservatives are seeking documents which would undoubtedly cast the Trudeau family and perhaps the Morneau family in a bad light. Some might suggest these two families have already done as much as they could to put themselves in that situation, but that’s an argument for another column.

Trudeau and his Liberals are against this committee. The NDP most assuredly would support the Liberals to defeat the committee (and they did so in a vote held Wednesday), although they will do their usual hum and haw along the way to voting with Trudeau.

The Liberals have offered to set up their own committee to investigate COVID-19 spending, but with a majority of Liberal members.

This is a battle of competing committees – one that would be Liberal-driven, and one that would not. It’s all political.

So, here’s where the rubber meets the road — Trudeau’s house leader, Pablo Rodriguez, said this week: “If they do that, they are saying that the government is corrupt. And that means that they don’t have confidence in this government.”

In other words, if the Tories established this committee, then Parliament has essentially voted its lack of confidence and, as a result, an election must be called. I’ve never heard of this being the case in the event of a committee establishment, but be that as it may…

By the way, it all reminds me of an exchange from the movie “Dodgeball,” in which commentators Cotton McKnight and Pepper Brooks had the following discussion:

Cotton McKnight: “I’m being told that Average Joe’s does not have enough players and will be forfeiting the championship match.”

Pepper Brooks: “It’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for ‘em.”

NDP Leader, Jagmeet Singh, stated: “Imagine the prime minister trying to explain to people who are worried about their livelihoods … his reason is because he doesn’t like the committee.”

For those out there who thought past Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper was anti-democratic, this must strike you as the height of hypocrisy from the man who pledged parliamentary reform, openness and transparency. He is so worried about investigations into his family and the WE charity connections that he is prepared to thrust our nation into a national election in the midst of a pandemic.

On the other hand, if the Tories truly believe Trudeau’s actions reach the level of “corruption,” then perhaps it should merit an election. After all, Canadians deserve a government that is not corrupt. So, Tories may want to think about the power and accuracy of their words.

This would be an election that no one wants, even the Tories. I would not support a party that is trying to push Canada into an election. Of course, who is doing the pushing is subject to debate.