From crisis, opportunity

Devin has a suggestion for an opposition plan "B" based on restructuring the Special Committee on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan to include an opposition majority capable of conducting hearings even in the face of a Con boycott. Which certainly seems like an idea worth exploring - but why stop there?

After all, the Cons arrived at the start of the last session of Parliament with a set of centrally-planned amendments designed to tweak the committee rules to better suit Harper's plans. In some cases the amendments passed with support from one or more of the opposition members who were effectively forced to react on their own; in some cases the opposition was wary enough to vote them down. But to my knowledge, none of the committee rules did anything but stay the same or get amended in the manner suggested by the Cons.

Which means that it's probably time to use Harper's attack on Parliament as an opportunity to turn the tables on him. As long as committees are stuck starting from scratch when Parliament reconvenes, and particularly if the opposition parties will be getting back to work even in the midst of the Cons' Harper Holiday, why not use some of that time to work out some agreed amendments to committee rules to counter the Cons' obstruction tactics?

That may not require going so far as to attempt to change the numbers on each committee, but could be as simple as ensuring that a Con chair storming out of the room or PMO instructions to boycott a committee can't bring proceedings to a halt. And I'm sure there's much more that can be done to ensure that committees are better able to actually deal with critiques of the government while they're sitting.

In sum, Harper's one-time attempt to escape scrutiny by shutting down Parliament may well give the opposition an ideal opportunity to render his current obstruction manual obsolete. And the result could be a net positive for MP oversight despite Harper's most devious efforts.