Prime minister must follow common sense amid contempt charges, MP says

Bruce Hyer said it would be unfortunate if Stephen Harper were to become the first prime minister in Canadian and Commonwealth history to be held in contempt of Parliament.

“I hope that Stephen Harper will get a dose of common sense here and back off and supply some of the materials that have been requested, which are quite reasonable,” said the NDP MP for Thunder Bay-Superior North. “If we do go to an election, I think we should do it over a budget and more fundamental things than this kind of silly stuff.”

A Commons committee comprised of opposition MPs has recommended the Conservative-led government be cited for contempt for refusing to disclose the full cost of its tough-on-crime agenda, corporate tax cuts and plans to purchase stealth fighter jets, The Canadian Press reported Friday.

The Canadian Press also reported that after hearing from the last witness Thursday, the Liberals produced a draft report that concluded the government had still not given up the cost information and is in contempt of Parliament.

The NDP and Bloc Quebecois agreed.

Hyer said Harper has been consistently anti-democratic and that the prime minister seems to believe that with 37 per cent of the Canadian vote, he should have 100 per cent of the power.

“That’s simply not acceptable,” he said. “It’s time for him to change his attitude.”

The MP added that as much as he’d like to see a change in government, he would prefer to see Harper leave the prime minster’s position in an orderly fashion and not through a contempt citation.

“For Canada’s image in the world and for our own Parliamentary democracy I hope that we can do this in a reasonable and balanced way,” he said.

MP John Rafferty (NDP, Thunder Bay-Rainy River) said the contempt charge is a serious issue and he believes it reveals a deeper issue.

“It’s a leadership problem,” he said. “Quite frankly, I think Mr. Harper and his government have shown over and over again that they can’t be trusted.”

Tory members have accused the opposition parties of ignoring added information and testimony of Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, who both appeared before the committee Thursday.

The committee is expected to continue discussion and report its recommendation Monday.

With the federal budget coming down March 22 and the first confidence vote potentially happening Thursday, Rafferty said next week should be interesting, adding that the contempt issue is more likely to trigger an election than the budget.

“In the history of Canada, we’ve only had two budgets trigger an election,” he said. “It’s not a usual situation for budgets to do that.”

Both Rafferty and Hyer said they won’t know until they see the whole budget on Tuesday what their vote will be, but Rafferty is looking for immediate help for Northern Ontario.

Hyer said he’s looking for new directions in the budget.

“I’m looking for a return to investing in health care and education, the things that Canadians care about,” he said.

Conservative Kenora MP Greg Rickford was unavailable to provide comment.