RON MACLEAN
So it's me, Ron MacLean with Don Cherry on House of Commons Night in Canada. Don, it's looking like we're shaping up for a real battle in the House of Commons over parliamentary privilege. What's your take on that?
DON CHERRY
You know, I'm a big fan of Roberto Luongo, but I thought that first Slovak goal was pretty cheesy. I mean, I'm a big fan of the Slovaks too, they really took it to Canada in the whole game and never gave up. But leaving the post before you know where the puck is? I'm starting to think we should put in Fleury.
RON MACLEAN
Don, we're talking about The Battle of the Robs in the House of Commons.
DON CHERRY
Yeah, well that includes Roberto Luongo doesn't it?
RON MACLEAN
No, it involves Rob Nicholson, the Attorney-General of Canada, and Rob Walsh, Law Clerk for the House of Commons Committee on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan.
DON CHERRY
We'd be better off with Luongo...
RON MACLEAN
...but the fact is that the House of Commons...
DON CHERRY
Yeah, well it's like the mind games about goaltenders - maybe we'll use this guy, maybe we'll use that guy - the Liberals are dragging their motion out in public to let everybody get a look at it and see what happens. You know, it's like that in Olympic hockey: you've got your marquee players who may or may not be invisible, and the heavy lifting is done by the "foot soldiers", but hey, just making this team makes you a marquee player, I don't care what anybody says.
RON MACLEAN
So what's your point, exactly?
DON CHERRY
Derek Lee.
RON MACLEAN
Derek Lee?
DON CHERRY
Yeah, Derek Lee. I'm a huge fan of this guy, Member of Parliament for Scarborough-Rouge Valley since 1999, wrote the book on parliamentary privilege with respect to the production of documents, and is surprising people in the big crunch.
RON MACLEAN
How so?
DON CHERRY
He's got a draft resolution that he's previewing in public, which might not seem like a big deal but is in fact the beginning of a constitutional crisis. Personally, and this is just my opinion, I think we need a constitutional crisis.
RON MACLEAN
This is pretty radical talk, even for you. How do you think this will go down in Quebec?
DON CHERRY
I don't want to get into constitutional matters with Quebec, I think there are other people to discuss that, not me.
RON MACLEAN
So, OK, we're back to Derek Lee. How is he a game-changer?
DON CHERRY
Well first thing is, Harper blew it with the prorogation thing, thinking he'd get a bye into the finals. Rob Nicholson is running around squawking about "Truth in Sentencing" but nobody's listening, and guys are still getting shot up in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the Liberals are taking this very seriously, and Derek Lee, who's had 10 years to think about this, is coming to the slow boil. He's got momentum behind him, he knows what he's doing, and the opposition are a bunch of flakes in the Department of Justice who, if they had any guts, would have resigned by now.
RON MACLEAN
Pretty strong words.
DON CHERRY
Parliamentary democracy isn't a game for wimps.
RON MACLEAN
So until next time, it's House of Commons Night in Canada.
DON CHERRY
Mercer sent me a tie with a picture of Al MacInnis on it.
RON MACLEAN
You should get a seal skin suit to go with it.
