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Thursday 17 February 2011
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| Minister Oda |
... and start proceedings to find International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda in contempt of Parliament.
The action that has been taken so far is a letter from NDP MP Millken to the Speaker of the House:
“It is increasingly clear that the Minister of International Cooperation made statements in the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development that were deliberately misleading with regard to who had been responsible for a government decision to reject a funding proposal for the Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives, known as KAIROS,” Mr. Dewar says in his letter to Mr. Milliken.“It is my belief that my rights, and the rights of the House of Commons have been breached by the Minister's misleading comments,” he added.
Based on remarks made by opposition MPs during Question Periods, it seems that Minister Oda did not tell a Parliamentary Committee that she was the person to insert the significant word "Not" in the document, and indeed implied that she did not know who did so.
This might well amount to contempt of Parliament, which is this (per Wikipedia):
Actions which can constitute a contempt of Parliament vary, but typically include such things as:
- deliberately misleading a House of Parliament or a parliamentary committee;
- refusing to testify before, or to produce documents to, a House or committee; and
- attempting to influence a Member of Parliament, for example, by bribery or threats.
And the Prime Minister has been spinning madly during the same Question Periods, refusing to address the question of Minister Oda's statements and insisting on repreating ad nauseam the Tory deflection defence that the Minister was entitled to make the decision whether funding should be done, and did so.
This refusal by the Prime Minister to address directly the issue of whether a minister has deliberately mislead Parliament, deserves censure by the members of Parliament (once again per Wikipedia):
Censure is a procedure by which the House of Commons or the Senate can rebuke the actions or conduct of an individual. The power to censure is not directly mentioned in the constitutional texts of Canada but is derived from the powers bestowed upon both Chambers through section 18 of the Constitution Act, 1867. A motion of censure can be introduced by any Member of Parliament or Senator and passed by a simple majority for censure to be deemed to have been delivered.
Our MPs should not let these two actions by the Prime Minister and a minister pass without response.
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