Today the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics issued a summons for the appearance of Mr. Dmitri Soudas, an aide to The Right Honourable Stephen Harper P.C., M.P. (Calgary Southwest), the Prime Minister, notwithstanding the objections of members for Her Majesty’s Government for Canada. The summons was prompted when Mr. Soudas failed to appear at the scheduled time today, instead replaced by The Honourable John Baird P.C., M.P. (Ottawa West—Nepean), the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.
Despite the objections of opposition members, Mr. Paul Szabo M.P. (Mississauga South), the Chairperson of the Committee, allowed the minister to stand in as a witness—that is, until he was dismissed for refusing to discuss the matter that was before the committee. So, despite the Government’s suggestion that ministers should answer questions in place of Government staffers, it appears that the Government actually has no intention of having ministers respond to questions. Rather, they want the minister to sit in for witnesses and waste Canadians’ time as they further attempt to derail the discussions of key issues.
In response to this further snub to the authority of the Parliament of Canada, members of the committee authorised Mr. Szabo to issue a summons for Mr. Soudas’s appearance. Should Mr. Soudas refuse to appear, the House of Commons could hold the aide in contempt of Parliament, and refer the matter to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs to decide what penalties should be imposed in consequence. The issue may also come before The Honourable Peter Milliken M.P. (Kingston and the Islands), the Speaker of the House of Commons, to determine whether the Government has once again breached the privileges of Parliament.
This is a serious issue; we could end up with a system where the Government has the right to decide what documents the House of Commons can have access to, and what witnesses the House of Commons can hear. What’s to stop ministers from standing in for each and every witness that might dare to give unfavourable testimony from the Government’s perspective? It is up to the House of Commons to clearly assert the sovereignty and supremacy of the Parliament of Canada, and here’s hoping that they do so with the full authority of our institutions. This conduct on the part of the Government is absolutely unacceptable.
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Despite the objections of opposition members, Mr. Paul Szabo M.P. (Mississauga South), the Chairperson of the Committee, allowed the minister to stand in as a witness—that is, until he was dismissed for refusing to discuss the matter that was before the committee. So, despite the Government’s suggestion that ministers should answer questions in place of Government staffers, it appears that the Government actually has no intention of having ministers respond to questions. Rather, they want the minister to sit in for witnesses and waste Canadians’ time as they further attempt to derail the discussions of key issues.
In response to this further snub to the authority of the Parliament of Canada, members of the committee authorised Mr. Szabo to issue a summons for Mr. Soudas’s appearance. Should Mr. Soudas refuse to appear, the House of Commons could hold the aide in contempt of Parliament, and refer the matter to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs to decide what penalties should be imposed in consequence. The issue may also come before The Honourable Peter Milliken M.P. (Kingston and the Islands), the Speaker of the House of Commons, to determine whether the Government has once again breached the privileges of Parliament.
This is a serious issue; we could end up with a system where the Government has the right to decide what documents the House of Commons can have access to, and what witnesses the House of Commons can hear. What’s to stop ministers from standing in for each and every witness that might dare to give unfavourable testimony from the Government’s perspective? It is up to the House of Commons to clearly assert the sovereignty and supremacy of the Parliament of Canada, and here’s hoping that they do so with the full authority of our institutions. This conduct on the part of the Government is absolutely unacceptable.
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