Isn’t having a minority government that knows it will never get a majority neat? Aside from the image of a runaway train clattering towards the disaster of earning the label “arrogant” faster than any government in Canadian history, it is a real lesson in the actual division of powers within the Parliamentary system of democracy. Yesterday’s action was a classic:
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said Tuesday he was powerless to block the impending extradition of Karlheinz Schreiber to Germany, even though Parliament’s main lawyer said he has the authority to amend the federal order. Lacking guarantees that Mr. Schreiber will be able to appear before a parliamentary probe, the Speaker of the House issued a rare “Speaker’s warrant” to force his appearance before MPs this week.
For a government that has made the insane choice to label itself as “clean” (never minding that everyone has skeletons) the prospect of the a very public and opposition controlled discussion of why Mulroney was brought back into favour and even why a letter to the Privy Council conveying bad news about said elder statesman did not into the hands of the pan-centric PMO is just delish.
The point is not that this may be all political maneuvering. It that all this political maneuvering is just turning out to be so gosh darn fun. So, as the wheels do or do not come off, whose power play do you want to see? The Liberals actually play their card and pull the rug on Parliament? Maybe a coalition going to see the GG and get anointed this ousting Mr. Grumpy? Perhaps the Supreme Court ordering that a Senate reorg get passed by the provinces for approval? What should it be?