By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON February 1, 2012 – When you get a document that starts with: `”Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(a) and the motion adopted by the Committee on Thursday, September 29, 2011, the Committee resumed its study of the Report…`” well you get the drift and will understand when one asks the questions – what are they saying?
According to our trusted source in Ottawa, a House of Commons committee has agreed to look into “the use of secret “In Camera” sessions to discuss substantive motions.”
What this means is that they aren’t going to actually go into secret closed meetings, but that they are going to look into just what all this would mean to the democratic process – and that is a good thing. Let us hope that the meetings in which they look at the “looking into” are themselves public and open.
All the blue on that map gave MP Mike Wallace the seat and the Conservative party a majority, which they will now do whatever they want with.
Our Ottawa source – the Ms Kayd O’Malley of CBC fame, chimes in with: “To which one can only add a hearty – and parliamentary “Hear, hear.” Kudos to the opposition for picking up the issue — and to the government members for not shutting it down.
Having committees go into closed session was something Burlington’s MP Mike Wallace attempted to do before the holiday break. At that time he was advised that he had to give notice of his intention to put forward that kind of a motion and yesterday served notice that is what he would do.
Before Wallace got a chance to put forward such a motion in the Committee of which he was vice chair – a different committee passed a motion to “look into” the use of secret closed meetings. That meant that the Wallace initiative gets put on ice until the other motion is dealt with..
So, for now, the committees are open to the public and Mike Wallaces’ fifteen minutes of fame are maybe used up and he has lost his chance to be known for one of the great (some would say shameful) moments in the history of parliamentary procedure.
