Each day the NDP filibuster drags on in the House of Commons the more damage it does the party, Parliament and Canadian democracy. In May's election, Canadians showed little appetite for pointless politicking and the wasting of their tax dollars. While Parliamentarians and avid politicos appreciated the rationale for defeating the government and forcing the the election, the voters said "enough is enough" to partisan bickering, "just get on with managing the nation's business".
NDP leader Jack Layton played to this sentiment by campaigning to restore dignity to Parliament which voters interpreted as meaning ending the sillier desk-thumping and heckling antics that go on in Question Period and the time wasted on pointless, partisan procedural scrummages. For a few days in this first session of the new Parliament, there indications Layton was keeping his caucus under control. Then, following his party's Vancouver pep-rally, where members were stirred by speeches from their radical left flank and Canadian Labour Congress provocateurs, Layton threw away his script and reverted to the worst of the same-old, same-old.
Michael Behiels, a professor of history and politics at the University of Ottawa, believes NDP leader Jack Layton has walked into a Conservative “set-up” to cast his party as hard-line left. “Layton’s trying to play to his base, but in doing that, Harper has him totally framed,” he told iPolitics. “The damage will continue to be inflicted as they refer to him as this radical socialist who’s under the iron heel of organized labour.”
“(Layton’s) caught. There’s no way out — he’s trapped… The Conservatives laid the trap.”
Behiels said the stage is set for Harper to realize his “dream” of realigning Canadian politics – decimating the Liberals in the “mushy middle,” intensely polarizing the landscape, making Conservatives the natural governing party.
link: Filibuster could backfire, experts say | iPolitics
Few will argue that Bill C-6, which would legislate an end to the postal strike, is harsh or that a negotiated agreement isn't the preferred way to achieve a contract and harmonious labour relations. The NDP argument that the filibuster is intended to give time for the union and Canada Post to negotiate a settlement is specious, however, and Canadians know it. Canada Post and the union long ago reached an impasse; they haven't been at the bargaining table in days. It doesn't help that the union is wildly despised (very high wages for unskilled labour delivering surely service; pensions and holidays other Canadians cannot dream of enjoying). That the NDP sees fit to hijack Parliament in support of an unpopular cause is enough of a self-inflicted wound but the party is going further in breaking its promise to restore civility in the House of Commons.
Layton knows he has no power in this Parliament. He had influence in the previous two minority Parliaments but the Conservative majority leaves him with little more than the ability to rant and rave. When Canadians are concerned about damage an extended postal strike will inflict on commerce and the country's still fragile economic recovery, the NDP sees fit to waste tax dollars and extend the interruption in mail service.
The opposition cannot and will not defeat Bill C-6. It could have stated its objection in the strongest terms and then let history run its course. Instead Parliament is sitting through a record-setting filibuster. Parliamentary staff are working over-time at great expense towards an end-result that will be no different than if the Bill had come to a vote five days ago.
Thanks to the NDP tactics of senseless motions, the hope for more civility in the House of Commons has been vanquished. Respect for Parliament is diminished each hour the obstruction drags on. Lack of respect for Parliament damages the institution and, ultimately, democracy in Canada. That will be the real legacy of Jack Layton's first session as Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition.
