Reflections on Day Two of Ontario’s Filibuster Equivalent
The single largest observation I would offer from the gong show unfolding in the legislature is the following; if the Liberals spent more time governing and less time playing politics and the PCs took a page from the NDP on being a more effective opposition in between walk outs and sit ins Ontario would be better off. This is an unwarranted mess.
I stand by my view that Speaker Peters went too far. Suspending an opposition MPP over their over the top attacks on the Government indefinitely is arbitrary and anti-democratic. In this case it was also selective enforcement of the standing orders. It is safe to say it is now clear he has lost control of the House, which makes his ability to preside over debate questionable. The longer this goes on, the more damage it inflicts on his ability to be Speaker, and sadly the office of Speaker.
Yes the rules allow such a suspension in theory because in 1939 the Standing Orders were amended, but that doesn’t make it right. It has also never been done. In Constitutional Law there is the matter of ’spent powers’ (those which not have been exercised and therefore are deemed ’spent’) The Sergeant-at-Arms also carries a sword to run through folks (this is clearly a spent power) Who is for that custom coming to a legislature near you? One has to also consider the shift in our politics since then, and the precedent set the last time a member defied the Speaker in this way.
Alvin Curling did the very same thing in 1995 that Bill Murdoch did in 2009. Both refused to comply with a Speaker’s order to leave the Chamber for the rest of the sessional day. Precedent is an important part of a Speaker’s job and decision making.
One resulted in a standstill for 18 hours, the other resulted in a suspension thirty minutes in after the Speaker took two breaks to consult whomever he consulted.
That person or people gave bad advice and handed the Speaker the nuclear option and resulted in days of chaos. Frankly it did exactly what the Progressive Conservatives wanted, kicked up a fuss and stalled the HST implementation bill.
Gilles Bisson – the NDP House Leader earns the ‘gentleman and scholar’ award for recognizing the disruption the whole PC Caucus was causing was of a greater concern to the Parliamentary Privilege than the Murdoch and Hillier sideshow playing out within the deafening banging that was killing any chance of debate.
On Monday it would have been fair to say the whole PC Caucus deserved to be thrown out for the day as each individual member refused to come to order upon repeated requests by the Speaker. The Speaker started naming some MPPs by riding, but if you watch the footage gives up part way through, clearly recognizing he was about 30 minutes away from expelling a whole party for the session.
To those who are using the ‘he was just following the rules argument’ every PC member present should have been named and escorted out for the day on Monday. But the Speaker didn’t try to do that because it had become abundantly clear he had lost control of the House and even his worst tool in the box wasn’t enough to regain it. The fact the threat of suspension didn’t work, and once he had suspended one member, he found himself suspending another shortly there after and then decided to ignore the routine of calling members to order with the threat of naming them demonstrates he even gets he went too far.
I support a fair and free debate in all forums and think it is unfortunate we’re so far passed that in our politics that government MPPs are ineffective sheep – regardless of party and opposition MPPs have zero ability to impact legislation.
McGuinty has proven to be as dismissive as Harris was of opposition, whether citizen-led or across the aisle and in some ways worse.
His refusal to allow for travelling hearings on the most significant tax measure this province has seen in a long time is motivated purely by politics and not what is in the best interest of Ontario or the legislative process. Its simply in the best interest of Dalton McGuinty and the Ontario Liberal Party.
The Ontario NDP should be commended for holding a consistent, coherent position on public hearings and the HST. They should also be commended on supporting civility in the Legislature even if the Government’s tactics and the Official Opposition’s response has made that about as realistic as meaningful public hearings on the HST.
With that said – I still believe the Speaker went too far and the House Leaders and Speaker will need to work out a plan for Speaker Peters to climb down and re-instate the members in question as part of any deal. Leaving this heavy handed precedence in place too severely limits MPPs ability to stand up to government.
Until then, I hope Hillier and Murdoch can continue to hold out for some time without access to the washroom or food, because however irresponsible their actions are deemed to be – both are defending their rights to be in that Chamber and standing up for democracy.
Tags: Bill Murdoch, Bill Murdoch Sit In, Expelled from the legislature, Hillier, legislature sit in, Murdoch, Murdoch and Hillier, Ontario Speaker, Randy Hillier, Randy Hillier and Bill Murdoch, Randy Hillier Legislature Sit In, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Speaker Peters, Steve Peters, suspended from Queen's Park, suspended from the legislature
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:14 am
Here’s another thing I’m wondering: how long can the human body go on without adequate food and water? I know that a human can go on without food for days, but they do need water. And if they have water, at some point they’re going to have to go to the bathroom.
My idea would be to deprive them of the luxury of going to the bathroom. Let them piss in a bottle like Curling did and see how long that will last. Frankly, this would charade is ridiculous from a group that have proposed no alternative ideas to this tax change.
And yes, John, you haven’t answered the pressing question of why Hudak won’t say he will repeal the HST, or what alternatives he would propose. Since you’re such a Tory policy wonk, I’d like to hear your thoughts.
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:45 am
I am only going to respond to the last point because it really is the only comment clearly directed at me:
I would like to say yet again, I do not hold a party membership in any political party.
I have worked on as many PC campaigns as NDP campaigns. As you will note if you go through things I’ve said on this blog, I’ve had nice things to say about the Ontario NDP and Ontario PC parties at different times on different issues.
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Democracy in Ontario is dead. Invariably, once a party gets a majority they become arrogant and domineering. The party leader, in this case McGuinty, makes polcies in secret, doesn’t consult with anyone except special interest groups, rams the legislation through parliament with the help of bankbenchers who have little regard for the people they supposedly represent, then closes up Queen’s Park for months on end so the opposition won’t have a vehicle to make their concerns known to the public. Representative democracy does not work in Ontario any longer thanks to arrogant, selfish, egotistical, unlistening, know-it-all politicians who lie through their teeth every chance they get knowing they will get away with almost anything because they have a majority. No wonder people are cynical, frustrated and fed-up with their leaders. The Speaker’s abuse of his authority is just one more example proving what I stated at the start – Democracy in Ontario is dead.
December 3rd, 2009 at 1:53 pm
To Owen:
I don’t know what you mean when you say McGuinty “closes up Queen’s Park for months on end”. QP follows a parliamentary calendar that pre-dates the McGuinty government. In fact, when the Standing Orders were revised in January of this year, they changed the dates so that the House comes back earlier than it used to in both February and September.
December 3rd, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Over McGuinty’s years as Premier he and his government have closed up shop early on numerous occasions in the spring and started later in the fall then usual as well. And how about those long christmas breaks that last until February. They govern by decree from the Premier’s office for pete’s sake. I suppose you are trying to deflect blame to the previous dictator, Mike Harris. McGuinty is just a victim huh. Took him long enough to change the parliamentary schedule didn’t it. 5 years!
And how about holding hearings so the people can have a say about his policies. No, we can’t have that, that would be too, . . . uhh what’s the word? it’s so rarely used in Ontario politics I’ve forgotten — Oh right, the word is DEMOCRATIC. But then again what there would be little point in having hearings. The Liberals would pretend to listen to the people then go right ahead and do what they intended to do in the first place. That’s what you get when you have backbench politicians who follow orders like good little soldiers from General McGuinty.
If McGuinty and sychophants had any principles they’d hold a provincial election and let the people decide whether we wanted the HST or not. That would be too democratic though.
Democracy in Ontario is dead.