On confidence

I've made the point before. But since it seems to need repeating, let's go over this again. There's no reason why any vote dealing with document disclosure should cause an election. And it's a sign of bad faith that the Cons are looking to pretend that's the only option if the opposition parties affirm the supremacy of Parliament.

To see why that's so, keep in mind just what it is that Parliament has voted on. The order giving rise to the current allegation of contempt isn't directed at non-confidence in the government, and indeed it implicitly rules out any intention to cause a change in government by ordering the government in power to deliver the listed documents to Parliament.

And any enforcement will be even more clearly aimed at accountability for the current government rather than an attempt to topple it. Of the two draft motions, Derek Lee's explicitly states that it "shall not be taken to be an expression of confidence or non-confidence in the Government by this House", while Jack Harris' is less direct but makes clear that "other business" will continue following the adoption of an anticipated declaration of contempt. And both are aimed solely at requiring the production of documents by two responsible individuals rather than disrupting the operations of the government.

Of course, it's true that Harper could decide to treat any given contempt motion as a matter of confidence if he's eager to provoke a needless election. But that's no less true for, say, an opposition day motion on prorogation. Or a bill on child care or climate change. And thankfully, we're not at the point where anybody is pretending that those offer Harper any reason to stomp his feet and demand a trip to the polls.

But for some obscure reason, far too many commentators seem eager to argue that Parliament's efforts to secure needed information somehow serve as a reason for Harper to force an election. And it's worth responding that it's Harper alone who should bear responsibility for doing so without justification - lest we otherwise face the mooted possibility that the Speaker will cut away at Parliamentary supremacy based on nothing more than the risk that Harper will abuse some of his other power in response to a correct ruling.

(Edit: fixed wording.)