Liberal Prime Minister Paul (“we lead the world”) Martin made a promise to Liberal MP Pat O’Brien in order to keep him from jumping ship, the other day, because Paul Martin is desperate to cling to power so he can keep changing Canada into Mo Liberal Canada.
Which opens up an interesting “saving Canada” scenario if you play it out in your mind in a positive way…
Jane Taber reports in the Globe and Mail:
Prime Minister Paul Martin, facing a potential election call in the next few weeks, moved quickly yesterday to put out a political fire by persuading one of his anti-same-sex-marriage MPs to stay in his caucus.
The Prime Minister’s damage-control strategy was to agree to encourage the legislative committee studying the marriage bill to consider holding public hearings as a concession to London MP Pat O’Brien, who was threatening to jump ship.
“He has given me that commitment and, yeah, he thinks there should be [public hearings] and will encourage the committee to do so,” Mr. O’Brien said. “That was an assurance that I wanted to get and I’m pleased that we do have that and I think the committee hopefully will want to hold hearings.”
By the way, Mr. O’Brien was the one who I’d mentioned the other day had referred to a female colleague, Liberal MP Sarmite Bulte, who disagreed with his position, as a “dumb blond bimbo.” Liberals are funny that way. If a conservative had said that, we’d be in the midst of an anti-conservative media frenzy in which they’d get yet another delicious opportunity to call conservatives “extremist” and “women haters”. Oh wait a minute: socialist anti-profit and America-hater NDP leader Jack Layton said yesterday: O’Brien is an MP who is anti-equality and anti-woman. Again: anti-equality and anti-women. See? But call Ann Coulter a blond bimbo and you get a Pulitzer.
Anyway, John Ibbitson of the Globe, not one I quote often, had this to say on the gay ‘marriage’ scenario and complies with my thesis that because of the hearings and the current possible election climate, this thing may never fly (though he’s very sad about it, unlike me):
For weeks, now, the Conservative Party has been using every rule in the procedural book to delay passage of Bill C-38. Despite these obstructions, the Liberals hope to secure a vote on second reading of the bill on or around next Wednesday. Even without the support of the dissident Liberal MPs, the bill is likely to pass with Bloc and NDP support, and will proceed to a legislative committee. But thanks to Mr. Martin’s promise, the committee will now hold public hearings, further delaying its progress through Parliament.
Senior Liberals insist that Mr. Martin offered Mr. O’Brien nothing in exchange for his continued loyalty. The Prime Minister, they maintain, always favoured public hearings for the bill.
Nonetheless, his undertaking will provide the Conservatives with further ammunition. They will demand that the committee embark on wide public consultations, including cross-country travel. The Liberals will try to limit those consultations as much as possible. Nonetheless, Mr. O’Brien believes that Mr. Martin has made him a promise, and the government will be under pressure to live up to it.
[…] If the bill does not pass the House in June, then the Senate won’t be able to consider it until Parliament returns in September. It could be October before the bill passes both houses and receives royal assent.
But of course, long before then the government may have fallen. Which is why Bill C-38 is unlikely ever to become law.
The power of positive thinking!
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