Commons set for all-night vote marathon
SHOWDOWN OVER SNC AFFAIR
OTTAWA • Set up the cots, stock the coffee supplies and keep the pizza delivery drivers on standby: The House of Commons is headed for another marathon voting session as opposition MPs punish the Liberals over shutting down testimony on the SNC-Lavalin affair.
The votes were triggered after the Liberals defeated a Conservative motion calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to waive privilege over further testimony from Jody Wilson-Raybould, specifically to allow her to speak about events after she was removed as justice minister and attorney general on Jan. 14.
Among those who voted in favour of the opposition motion was Celina Caesar-Chavannes — who had just announced her resignation from the Liberal caucus earlier that day. Caesar-Chavannes, an outspoken supporter of Wilson-Raybould, had already said she would not run for re-election, and will now sit as an independent for the rest of the session.
On Tuesday, Liberal MPs on the Commons justice committee used their voting majority to end its study of the SNC-Lavalin affair, rejecting calls from the Conservatives and NDP to invite Wilson-Raybould to testify a second time.
The opposition is also trying to get Wilson-Raybould to testify at the Commons ethics committee, which is chaired by a Conservative MP. But with the Liberals controlling a majority of votes on the committee, the motion inviting her will almost certainly be defeated.
During question period, opposition MPs slammed Trudeau repeatedly over the shuttered justice committee study, demanding that his party allow more investigation into whether Wilson-Raybould was removed as justice minister for refusing to intervene in the SNC-Lavalin prosecution.
“Why is the prime minister silencing women of principle while covering up for the actions of his corrupt friends?” said Conservative MP Candice Bergen.
Trudeau, speaking later to reporters, defended the committee’s study, even though it only heard testimony from a few of the major players involved in the events. The committee did not, for example, call the chiefs of staff of either Trudeau or Wilson-Raybould to testify.
“There was a full hearing and a process of five weeks of the justice committee where they heard at great length from the former minister of justice and attorney general, along with other key figures in this question,” Trudeau said.
He added that he has confidence in the ethics commissioner to fully examine the case.
The Conservatives are now looking to keep the political heat on the Liberals, and will force the Commons to conduct consecutive votes on as many as 257 budgetary measures.
WHY IS THE PRIME MINISTER SILENCING WOMEN OF PRINCIPLE?
Because such votes are considered confidence matters, the Liberals must keep enough MPs in the Commons to pass them.
If all the votes take place, they would last through the night on Wednesday and possibly all the way through Thursday into Friday morning. On Wednesday afternoon,
NEW DEMOCRATS WERE POSTING PHOTOS OF COTS SET UP OUTSIDE THE LIBERAL SIDE.
New Democrats were posting photos on Twitter of cots set up outside the Liberal side of the House.
It is almost exactly a year since the last time the Conservatives forced a voting marathon. That one was over the Jaspal Atwal affair, and the Conservatives’ demand that Daniel Jean — Trudeau’s national security adviser at the time — testify about it at committee. (Atwal, a man once convicted of trying to assassinate an Indian politician, had been invited to events with Trudeau in India. The controversy deepened after Jean suggested to reporters that rogue elements in the Indian security service might have orchestrated it.)
The 2018 filibuster ended after 21 hours, and did not produce any promises from the Liberals that Jean would testify. However, less than a month later Jean did in fact testify to the public safety and national security committee. He announced his retirement shortly afterward.
Even if the Liberals endure the marathon without caving to the opposition demands, it is still possible Wilson-Raybould will be called to testify in the other chamber. The Senate is debating a motion to launch its own study into the affair, though it has not yet voted on it.
The SNC-Lavalin affair has already taken a toll on the senior ranks of government. Two cabinet ministers — Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott — have resigned, as has Trudeau’s principal secretary and longtime friend Gerald Butts. On Monday, Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick said he would be retiring well before the election due to the political controversy over his testimony on the matter.