Print

Mail

wiki links

Shaky Canada regime resolves dispute

Canada's minority government struck a last-minute compromise Thursday in a dispute over federal powers that saved it from facing a no-confidence vote that could have brought its downfall in parliament.

Pressure on Prime Minister Paul Martin's minority Liberal Party government has mounted with a row over a navy submarine bought from Britain that caught fire off the coast of Ireland on its maiden voyage.

The parliamentary showdown centered on a move by the regional Bloc Quebecois to commit the government to spending budget surpluses on provincial governments.

After a cabinet meeting, Martin said the move would remove the rights and obligations of the federal parliament to control the budget.

"Any fundamental issue of this nature," Martin told reporters, "is a vote of confidence. If you take a look at what the issue is, it is the responsibility of parliament to control the public purse and not see that responsibility delegated to a third party.

"That's what the bloc motion essentially says it would do. And I can tell you that, certainly exercising my responsibility as prime minister, I will not accept that kind of abdication," he said.

Technically, the motion by the regional party is a sub-amendment to an amendment being moved by the main opposition Conservative Party.

Just over 30 minutes before the parliamentary vote was to have been taken, the leaders of the Bloc and the Conservatives left Martin's office and announced compromise wording had been agreed on that would satisfy Martin's constitutional argument.

The watered-down amendment was then passed without opposition by the full House of Commons.

If the disputed measure had come to a vote, Martin's future could have been decided by a single vote.

Since the June 28 election, Martin's governing Liberal Party has 134 seats in the House of Commons. The Conservative Party has 99 seats, the Bloc Quebecois 54 and the leftist New Democrats 19. There is one independent.

With one Liberal MP and one Conservative reported to be too ill to vote, the ruling party has been promised the support of the New Democrats, which would have given the government a probable vote tally of 152.

The remaining Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois, if they stood together, would also have had 152 votes. That would have left independent MP Chuck Cadman, a former Conservative, to decide the government's fate.

On the submarine crisis, Martin said he hoped to go to Sligo, Ireland, to visit two injured sailors being treated in hospital following a fire on board the HMCS Chicoutimi. One crew member has died.

Martin said a visit to Sligo could be made yesterday at the start of a planned visit to Russia, France and Hungary.
This story has been viewed 1757 times.