Speaker protecting Tory MPs from law

[Cobalt_Kid]

The Speakere of the House is refusing to release letters from Elections Canada about two Tory MPs who shouldn't be allowed to sit in the House.

Elections Canada letters put Speaker in hot seat - Politics - CBC News

Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer is in the hot seat over his decision to withhold letters sent to him two weeks ago about two Conservative MPs who have run afoul of Elections Canada.

In a letter dated May 23, Canada's chief electoral officer wrote to the Speaker to inform him of "the failure of the Member of Parliament for Selkirk-Interlake, Mr. James Bezan, to provide corrections to his electoral campaign returns."

The letter goes on to say, "The [Canada Elections] Act provides that an elected candidate who fails to provide documents required ... may not continue to sit or vote as a member until the corrections have been made."

It sure seems like the conservative idea of governance is making up the rules as they go along no matter what the law says.

What's the point in even having a democracy if the public servants we "elect" act as dictators?

I was very surprised that he didn't inform the House on it ... just the fact that it was keeping information from the House that [MPs] were entitled to know."

Hall cites a precedent in 1966, when an MP had similarly gotten into trouble with the election law.

In that case, the Speaker at the time said it was up to the House to decide what should happen to the transgressor and that the Speaker had no role to play in such matters.

This time, Scheer seems to have taken on the decision largely himself.

 

[WLDB]

It'd be nice to see the letters but its going a bit far to say these two member should not be allowed to sit in the house.

 

[B00Mer]

OMG!! Another Anti-Conservative Gov't thread...

Should I be shocked??

 

[Cobalt_Kid]

It'd be nice to see the letters but its going a bit far to say these two member should not be allowed to sit in the house.

The law says that until they're in accordance with the elections laws they can't legally sit in the House, the fact that Speaker is withholding the letter from Elections Canada from the House doesn't allow our legally elected law markers to determine the validity of the Elections Canada case.

There are consequences to ignoring the limits on spending which seems to be a hard concept for some MPs.