OTTAWA - The House of Commons is full. No, not full of hot air or bovine- enhanced fertilizer, although that, too.
It's at capacity with MPs. There is no physical space to seat the 22 new MPs proposed by the Conservatives to boost effective representation from the rapidly growing provinces of Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.
So they're dusting off blueprints that will add another row of desks behind the curtains that now hang behind the last row of backbenchers. Good grief. Make them stand. Things would move a lot quicker.
But reaching its seating maximum should've been a sign from above that more Commons bodies does not necessarily mean better public representation, particularly at an operational cost of $1.3-million per year per MP.
The vast majority of MPs are neither seen nor heard. They seat-warm at the fanciful whims of their leader and vote on command. Increasing the number of lapdogs in the back rows won't enhance the influence of any region.
This much was graphically illustrated by the spineless Atlantic and Saskatchewan MPs who stood yesterday to support a promise-breaking budget bill that's viewed as bad news by the premiers of their home provinces.
Which brings us to the current parliamentary silly season, where chaos is breaking out in the House, the Senate and in parliamentary committees, leaving MPs salivating for a summer recess that's still at least three weeks away.
Lunacy erupted on the House of Commons floor yesterday when a Liberal MP found himself verbally harassed by a Conservative after daring to ask a question the government clearly didn't like. Liberal David Mc- Guinty claims that Tory MP Royal Galipeau came over to his seat and physically accosted him.
While that was going on, across the Hall of Honour in the Senate the Conservatives were screaming in unrelated protest over a sneaky move by the Liberals.
The Grits had called an energy meeting to order before the Conservatives had a chance to reach the room, passing a Kyoto implementation bill in mere seconds.
Later on Tuesday evening, about 20 Liberal senators huddled in their foyer, refusing to enter the chamber to provide the quorum necessary for an adjournment motion. Sigh. Clearly the only Senators worth their salt are playing hockey.
But of particular egregiousness is a sudden outbreak of agenda manipulation and censorship on the parliamentary committees.
You don't hear much about these 29 committees and their assorted subcommittees until they smear a hockey star like Shane Doan for slurs he didn't say.
Yet in the past week we've had meetings cancelled because the chair didn't like the topic up for discussion; a meeting needlessly delayed as a government MP talked out the clock for three hours to prevent an embarrassing topic from being raised; a meeting arbitrarily adjourned because the chair didn't like what the witnesses were saying; and a chairman voted out of his position by disgruntled MPs, leaving a committee in limbo without anyone in a position to call the next official meeting.
The committee chairs are MPs of puppet calibre who couldn't decide to cross Sparks Street without permission from the Prime Minister's Office, so we know where their strange behaviour has its origin.
But to watch them floundering only confirms the Conservatives have decided they have a divine minority to govern and will use every procedural trick to have their way.
OK, the Conservatives will argue correctly that the Liberals practised the same agenda-control antics when they were in power. Fair comment.
But wasn't this government elected to be BETTER? Was the Liberal low-bar supposed to represent the high water mark of parliamentary conduct for the Conservatives? That's a rhetorical question, by the way.
In any event, this has become a parliament crying out for a mercy killing or an electoral cleansing.
It's sucking on fumes for political inspiration.
In lieu of meaningful legislation, it puts up bills like yesterday's ban on strippers under tighter immigration rules.
And to repair democracy, MPs can only propose to add more of themselves to an already dysfunctional mix.
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FUN & GAMES IN THE HOUSE - May 10 International Trade Committee chairman Leon Benoit attempts to block testimony from an Alberta witness concerned about domestic energy supplies. When the committee foils him, Benoit adjourns the meeting and leaves the room. Experts still can't figure out if what he did was legal. - May 10 Tory MP Mike Wallace filibusters for three hours in an attempt to thwart discussion of a heavily censored report on Afghanistan detainees. He quits only after opposition MPs tip off the media. - May 10 Tory chairman Guy Lauzon cancels a meeting of the Official Languages Committee at the last minute, apparently to block a Liberal effort to reinstate the Court Challenges Program. - May 15 Opposition MPs vote Lauzon from his seat on languages committee and refuse to name replacement, continuing dispute over Court Challenges Program. Tory MPs storm from the room. Without a chairman, committee can't meet. - May 15 A Senate energy committee is convened by Liberals while the Senate is still in session. Before Conservative members can get there, Liberal members move, second and pass a bill on the Kyoto Protocol.
Dmartin@nationalpost.com
