June 23, 2005

Ottawa — The Conservatives are threatening to do everything in their power to defeat the government next week unless the Liberals back off their efforts to rush through same-sex marriage legislation and the government's $4.6-billion deal with the NDP.

Conservative MPs were sent e-mails yesterday afternoon from the party whip ordering them to be in their House of Commons seats no later than 2 p.m. on Monday and saying all MPs must be in the House to vote on Bill C-48, the budget bill, which will be the final confidence vote until at least the fall.

Senior Tories said the edict, after nearly a month of relative calm, shows the party is once again serious about taking down the Liberals.

However, Liberals say the heightened rhetoric is merely an attempt to counteract the view that Tory Leader Stephen Harper and his party appear weak after recent political failures, including the botched May 19 push to topple the government, the defection of Belinda Stronach and the handling of the Gurmant Grewal tapes.

The Tory tactics may also have more to do with a high-stakes attempt to get the Liberals to back down from passing the same-sex marriage bill rather than a suddenly renewed interest in forcing a federal election. In fact, a Liberal source said yesterday the party's main priority is passing the budget. Liberals also need to demonstrate to Canadians that they have done their best to push through the same-sex legislation, although that may not necessarily mean it has to pass in the current sitting. In addition to the e-mail, Conservatives indicated yesterday that all three Tory MPs who have been on sick leave could be in the House for the confidence vote.

Deputy Tory leader Peter MacKay said that while Canadians do not want a summer election, the Liberals may ultimately cause one next week by forcing the two bills the Tories strongly oppose to be passed without discussions or possible amendments.

"If the government wants an election, they'll continue to behave in this fashion," he said. "If they don't, they'll be willing to sit down and talk and engage in some give and take. That's how a minority Parliament is supposed to work, but these guys are drinking their own bath water and thinking that they own this town. They're in for a real sharp wake-up call if they continue down that road."

The Tories intend to vote against a government motion in the House today that would extend the current sitting indefinitely to pass the two bills.

At least three Liberal MPs have suggested they will also vote against the motion, citing their opposition to the gay-marriage bill.

Last night, the Liberal government invoked closure for the first time since the election to shut down debate on the motion to extend the session.

Mr. MacKay's strong talk was echoed by other senior Tories, including House Leader Jay Hill and finance critic Monte Solberg.

Mr. Solberg said a summer election is possible because Conservatives are also upset that the Liberals are holding up the Atlantic accord in the Senate. The accord transfers oil revenues to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

"We're saying enough's enough," Mr. Solberg said. "So we are pulling out all the stops as far as I understand it, and we didn't lose [Tuesday night's confidence votes] by many votes and I'd say they're on notice."

Several other Conservative MPs said they would support a summer election but were unaware of any plan to escalate the brinkmanship next week in the House.

The Liberals have sailed through more than two dozen confidence votes over the past two weeks, thanks largely to the repeated absence of at least three Tory MPs, Dave Chatters, Darrel Stinson and Mr. Grewal.

The Tory House Leader said those MPs will be encouraged to attend the vote but the party will understand if they decline for health reasons.

If all 308 MPs are in the House, previous voting patterns would suggest the government would lose by one vote because two former Liberals, David Kilgour and Pat O'Brien, have been voting with the Tories against the NDP budget bill.

Mr. Chatters and Mr. Stinson have cancer, but Mr. Chatters said yesterday he has finished his last round of chemotherapy and could be in Ottawa next week. Mr. Stinson's aides said he too could attend. Finally, Mr. Grewal quietly returned to Ottawa this week, fuelling rumours he could soon be removed from stress leave. Sources say Mr. Grewal is ready to vote in the House should he receive orders to do so from the party leadership.

That leaves independent MP Chuck Cadman, who also has cancer and whose vote saved the Liberals on May 19, as the major question mark. He said yesterday it is unlikely that he could get to Ottawa for the vote.

"I've got another appointment with the specialist next week," Mr. Cadman said yesterday after returning from the doctor's office, where he learned he had to take another round of treatment.

The decision to take one more run at the government was prompted in part by two new allegations of Liberal cronyism and the collapse of a deal on the same-sex marriage bill, said veteran Conservative John Reynolds.

Mr. Reynolds said he and House Leader Tony Valeri struck a deal last week that would have the government's two budget bills pass without opposition roadblocks in exchange for amendments to the same-sex marriage bill and a delay of the bill until the fall.

But the day after that agreement was struck and approved by both Mr. Harper and the Conservative caucus, Mr. Valeri was on television saying the session would continue until both the budget bill and same-sex bill had been passed, Mr. Reynolds said.

"And I think when the public sees all of this, the public will accept a summer election and we should vote them out of office next week," he said.

Source: The Globe and Mail