Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Bloc helps Tories stifle debate - Tuesday June 12, 2007
OTTAWA – As tensions continue to rise between the Conservative government and the provincial governments of Newfoundland and Labrador, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia on the sharing of oil and gas revenues, the Bloc Quebecois is helping the Conservative government impose a gag order by limiting the length of the budget debate. This unprecedented move will prevent opposition MPs from debating this important issue which is the basis of the fiscal imbalance and the equalization system.
“Being an MP is a privilege, and our role is first and foremost to represent our fellow citizens in Parliament and take part in debates in the House,” declared the NDP whip, Yvon Godin (Acadie-Bathurst). “It’s the basis of our democracy. If the Bloc doesn’t want to do its job, they should at least let us do ours,” he added.
The reasons why the Bloc Quebecois is helping the Conservative government place a gag order on the opposition are unclear, especially since the Bloc has protested fervently and indignantly against such gag orders in the past. This attitude is becoming less and less surprising, since Gilles Duceppe and the members of the Bloc have been keeping the Conservatives in power confidence vote after confidence vote.
But the Bloc Quebecois admitted that it is not interested in participating in this fundamental debate on Stephen Harper’s commitment to the provinces to fix the fiscal imbalance. This imbalance was once at the heart of the Bloc Quebecois’s agenda. After supporting the last two Conservative budgets which did nothing to fix the fiscal imbalance, it is clear that the Bloc has abandoned this file by helping the Conservatives place a gag order on the opposition.
“Quebeckers deserve better than being represented by an invisible party who refuses to participate in such an important debate. The Bloc is obviously worn out and their approach is definitely very disappointing for Quebeckers,” added Thomas Mulcair, the NDP’s Quebec spokesperson. “The results of this debate will impact all the provinces. By denying MPs the right to speak, the Bloc has once again proven that its expiration date is long past,” concluded Mulcair.
# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 8:11 AM 
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