On behalf of the President, press secretary Ziegler said then that he would not comment on a “third-rate burglary attempt.” He added that “certain elements may try to stretch this beyond what it is.”
Washington Post Published: May 1, 1973
DON CHERRY
(cont'd)
13. Not Bev Oda
14. Gazebos
15. G8/20 $1 billion-for-nothing boondoggle...
16. The "in and out" fiasco
17. Guelph...
RON MACLEAN
There's just no letup is there?
DON CHERRY
I know. Just when the Senate had taken over centre stage again from the, ah, events in Toronto - bam! - a Conservative back-bencher weighs in with a Private Member's bill to reform the way the House works and everybody's paying attention.
RON MACLEAN
That would be Michael Chong, MP for Wellington-Halton Hills.
DON CHERRY
That would be correct. I have to say I'm liking Chong, he's the real deal; not exactly a rookie but he's young, sees the House well, has good hands.
RON MACLEAN
So tell our viewers what he's trying to do.
DON CHERRY
What he wants to do is get more power to elected representatives...
RON MACLEAN
...Members of Parliament...
DON CHERRY
...right, and remove some from the cabinet and particularly from the PMO where kids nobody has elected or even heard of famously try to boss around actual Members of Parliament. Government MPs get told when to talk, what to say, when to clap, how to vote, when to pee... We've talked about respect before...
RON MACLEAN
Is this just a Conservative problem?
DON CHERRY
Not at all. Chong makes that point. The other thing about Chong's bill is he wants to transfer more power to the ridings. It's an all party problem, and the same thing was going on with Chretien and Trudeau the Elder now that I think of it. Politicians who want to get things done are always trying to centralize power to they can make actual decisions, not surprisingly, and don't want to run it by a few dozen members who all want their say and then say it in ways that make people nuts and nothing gets done.
RON MACLEAN
Yeah, David Frum was writing about exactly that in the National Post.
DON CHERRY
Who's David Frum?
RON MACLEAN
Senator Linda Frum's brother. He's spent most of his political career in the States and worked for George Bush.
DON CHERRY
Which one?
RON MACLEAN
W.
DON CHERRY
And he's knocking British Parliamentary Democracy?
RON MACLEAN
Yeah, he was saying if MPs had more power, the government wouldn't get anything done.
DON CHERRY
Let me quote Winston Churchill at him:
We work our affairs in a different way. The Prime Minister is the servant of the House and is liable to dismissal at a moment's notice by a simple vote. It is only possible for him to do what is necessary, and what has got to be done on occasion by somebody or other, if he enjoys, as I do, the support of an absolutely loyal and united Cabinet, and if he is refreshed and fortified from time to time, and especially in bad times, as I have been, by massive and overwhelming Parliamentary majorities. Then your servant is able to transact the important business which has to be done with confidence and freedom, and is able to meet people at the heads of the Allied countries on more or less equal terms and on occasion to say, "Yes" and "No," without delay upon some difficult questions. Thus we arrive, by our ancient constitutional methods, at practical working arrangements which show that Parliamentary democracy can adapt itself to all situations and can go out in all weathers.RON MACLEAN
Also, judges are unaccountable.
DON CHERRY
He said the Canadian judiciary is unaccountable? This is a guy who worked in the White House and enthuses about the presidential system in which the Supreme Court Chief Justice goes duck hunting with the Vice President. How do we know Cheney didn't threaten to shoot Scalia like he shot some other guy on a similar hunting trip, after a few beers? There was a big case coming up shortly after that named Cheney as the defendant. So now we're talking about it, who's Senator Linda Frum?
RON MACLEAN
"She currently serves on the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee, the Energy and Environment Committee, and the Senate Conflict of Interest Committee." I just checked on Wikipedia.
DON CHERRY
Which party?
RON MACLEAN
Conservative. Appointed by Harper in 2009.
DON CHERRY
Conflict of Interest Committee? You'd think she'd be all over this. It's a conflict for Deloitte being the auditor of the CPC that Irv Gerstein is the chair of while also conducting an audit of Duffy for the Senate where Irv Gerstein is a Conservative Senator, the audit being awarded by the Standing Committee for Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration, the results of the audit possibly implicating the current Prime Minister or his appointed staff in improper attempts to manipulate the Senate where Linda Frum is a Conservative Senator responsible for conflict of interest. So, no problem. The other thing is I don't know why the Senate needed an outside auditor when they have a perfectly good inside auditor in the form of the Auditor General. In fact his audit is already happening. The Auditor General made that clear in his remarks on June 11, 2013 to the very same Standing Committee for Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration.
I would like to assure the Committee that we have sufficient resources to conduct the audit. As we did in the last one, we may engage experts, if the need arises.It's hard to believe the Board didn't know that before they asked Deloitte to do the outside audit.
RON MACLEAN
OK so back to the House of Commons, what's your take on Michael Chong's reform bill?
DON CHERRY
Well, it really isn't a reform.
RON MACLEAN
You're kidding.
DON CHERRY
The Conservative back bench can unseat the Prime Minister any time they want.
RON MACLEAN
How?
DON CHERRY
Like Churchill said, the nuclear option is voting with the Opposition on the budget. That would bring down the government.
RON MACLEAN
Anything less drastic?
DON CHERRY
They can maneuver in caucus.
RON MACLEAN
How?
DON CHERRY
There's 39 Conservatives in the Cabinet which leaves 126 Conservative back-benchers. It wouldn't be a contest. The back-benchers in the British House of Commons exert influence through the 1922 Committee. That was speaking truth to power. The thing about Chong's bill is it'll get people talking, like we're talking now.
RON MACLEAN
...and will be again soon, possibly on YouTube.
DON CHERRY
We can make our own studio, I'll decorate it tastefully...
RON MACLEAN
Both imagination and words fail me.
DON CHERRY
Seeing is believing.
RON MACLEAN
*puts on impressive snow goggles* I'm prepared for a snow job.
