Veteran Liberal not satisfied by Speaker’s ruling on Tory dirty tricks
Disappointed but not defeated, Irwin Cotler bluntly calls the Speaker of the House of Commons “mistaken” for not ruling that Conservative Party tactics prevented him from doing his job.
The veteran Liberal MP and human-rights expert told reporters he couldn’t understand why Speaker Andrew Scheer called the Tory tactic “reprehensible” but would not go so far as to find that his privileges were breached.
Asked if Mr. Scheer’s political affiliation – he’s a Tory from Saskatchewan – played a role in his ruling, Mr. Cotler was careful to say that he does not want to “impute ... bad faith.”
“I think that the judgment, his judgment today, his ruling was mistaken, both in relation to the facts, in relation to the principles, in relation to the precedents, in relation to the law on breaches of privilege,” the Montreal MP said. “So I think it was a mistaken judgment taking all those things into account.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/veteran-liberal-not-satisfied-by-speakers-ruling-on-tory-dirty-tricks/article2270862/
The Speaker is biased!
Justin Trudeau apologizes for swearing at Kent
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/12/14/pol-question-period-swearing.html
Dec 14, 2011 7:04 PM ET
At the end of the audio/visual item the speaker says "I believe that is what..."
The bloody guy is so biased he doesn't realize what is going on. Looks like the whole parliament will become a goon show. And Harper is so sentimental/honest. Read "right wing of the Ayatollah Khomeini".
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Staples+Liberals+Lennon+young+long+road+Parliament+Hill/5854781/story.html
House Speaker used firm linked to Cotler calls
House of Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer was a client of the firm linked to calls in Irwin Cotler's riding that falsely claimed he was about to step down, Elections Canada records show.
Cotler asked Scheer to rule on whether the calls breached his parliamentary privilege, interfering in his ability to do his work as an MP. Cotler said his office was forced to deal with calls and emails from people in his Montreal riding wondering whether it was true. He also argued it made Parliament as a whole look bad, breaching privilege for all parliamentarians.
Conservative MPs defended the calls as protected under free speech and a legitimate means to identify potential voters for the next election in 2015.
"If you look to page 313 ... of O’Brien and Bosc, it says that the speaker has an obligation to be impartial and to appear to be impartial. More than that, I can’t comment by way of response," Cotler said.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/12/14/pol-scheer-campaign-research.html
Dec 14, 2011 5:47 PM ET
So look for a real hard time ahead!
