Liberals Try To Delay Massive Crime Bill

Rob Nicholson Crime Bill

First Posted: 09/21/11 09:16 PM ET Updated: 11/21/11 05:12 AM ET


Liberal MPs are invoking a procedural delay on the Conservatives' omnibus crime bill, debating a change to the proposed package of justice reforms that would end its passage through the House of Commons.


The NDP and Liberals are against the bill, which wraps a number of proposed laws into one package that the government wants to pass all at once.


Liberal MP Sean Casey has proposed an amendment that would delete every page in the bill and replace it with a vow not to pass it on to the next stage in Parliament.


If passed, the Liberal amendment says MPs are declining to move the bill forward because it ignores the best evidence on public safety, crime prevention and rehabilitating offenders, the government hasn't provided a clear cost estimate, and bundling that much legislation together "will compromise Parliament's ability to review and scrutinize its contents and implications on behalf of Canadians."


This is the second proposed change, known as a reasoned amendment, the Liberals have proposed since Monday.


The debate on the amendment will continue until no more MPs want to debate it. It is due to continue Thursday.


Conservative MPs outnumber MPs from other parties, which should allow them to pass the legislation once it gets to a vote.


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Liberal MPs are invoking a procedural delay on the Conservatives' omnibus crime bill, debating a change to the proposed package of justice reforms that would end its passage through the H...
Liberal MPs are invoking a procedural delay on the Conservatives' omnibus crime bill, debating a change to the proposed package of justice reforms that would end its passage through the H...
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Capital Ottawa
05:02 PM on 09/22/2011
The Liberals are attempting to delay this omnibus bill on very rational grounds "it ignores the best evidence on public safety, crime prevention and rehabilitating offenders, the government hasn't provided a clear cost estimate". It is in the best interest of Canadians to fully understand the implications of the bill before it is passed, I am pleased that the Liberals are attempting to create this dialog.
04:12 PM on 09/22/2011
Fellow Canadians, Please try to remember that this is not the Progressive Conservative Party or PCs of your parents or Grand Parents era. It is the relatively newly formed conservative party drawn from the decimated remnants of the old PC party and the Alliance Party, which is the outgrowth of Preston Manning's Reform Party. They duped the public by adopting this name just as the Social Credit rebranded themselves as the Liberal Party in BC. Buyer beware! You have been fooled once again. If they called themselves what they really are, the "Right Wing Evangelical Christian Conservative Party", I don't think they would get as many votes outside of Alberta or BC. Wake up and realize what is really going on in Canada. We are being played...
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
piceaglauca
The picture says it all....
05:02 PM on 09/22/2011
Everyone who cares is awake and that's where we find ourselves. No one else cares as partisan politics is where we are. You say wake-up. What is wrong with the way we are headed? I'm sure you will tell me but I am not the population. The population has been moving this way for quite some time and we will continue to do so until we have moved far enough. One thing is for sure the Liberals aren't going to be bringing us back any time soon.
05:18 PM on 09/22/2011
Canadians tend to vote for the parties they know. This is not the party they know. I have talked to many who don't even realize this is not the Progressive Conservative Party.
04:08 PM on 09/22/2011
Back in the 1980s, the Liberals introduced a 300+ page energy bill
and the opposition parties walked out and the division bells rang for
more than 2 weeks.

The Liberals, NDP and Bloq members could do the same thing to
Harpers' bills--such as the present one.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
piceaglauca
The picture says it all....
05:02 PM on 09/22/2011
The numbers don't add up.
10:04 PM on 09/22/2011
It isn't a matter of absolute numbers but the fact that there must be
a minimum of members from all parties in the House for the nation's
business to continue.

Any one party walking out of the House means that the quorum
of members is not there and the legislative process stops.

I hope this explains my original post. Sadly, I did not mention
the quorum rule on the first post.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Cariboofly
Aye, Ready, Aye & Semper Fi
03:36 PM on 09/22/2011
"Sure, Conservati­ves are running Parliament­, but they only won 40 per cent of the popular vote."

In 2004, the Liberal Party won a majority with ONLY 36.3 % of the popular vote. So what ?

The Omnibus Crime Bill is a MASSIVE document, tabled 24 hours ago, are the Libs and NDP ACTUALLY trying to tell everyone they have read and understood the bill? OR is this another combined strategy plotted ahead of time, just like they did last Christmas, in order to force an election? If so, do they not remember what happened in the election? Slow learners.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
piceaglauca
The picture says it all....
05:04 PM on 09/22/2011
There will be no election this time. The NDP will soon be in as much of a quandry as the Partie Quebecquois and Bloc find themselves.
09:12 PM on 09/23/2011
the bill is under 500 pages long, if that is MASSIVE then you might need to go back to school and learn to read above a 6th grade level
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Cariboofly
Aye, Ready, Aye & Semper Fi
09:46 PM on 09/23/2011
You forgot the 9 sub-bills. I know, "minor detail".
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
relentless63
02:23 PM on 09/22/2011
Thank you, Liberals! Repressive measures are more easily done than undone.
01:43 PM on 09/22/2011
This is a controversial issue. Sure, Conservatives are running Parliament, but they only won 40 per cent of the popular vote.

Harper has his majority, and though he may have thought he could sail smoothly from here, this is where the real work begins on both sides. Liberals and NDP can step up and address real policy issues, and speak to their beliefs, while the Conservatives must leave their media machine's Iron Curtain and make their policy beliefs clear. Canadians will see the government they elected for what they are.

Also interesting is Bob Rae's personality is shining. He's gregarious and confrontational, and a good mouth-piece for the Left. This may turn into a great Parliamentry session, with real political discussions.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
piceaglauca
The picture says it all....
05:05 PM on 09/22/2011
But is any one listening?
12:20 PM on 09/24/2011
I can be hopeful, can't I? It's now or never.
12:03 AM on 09/23/2011
He sure is a real mouth-piece, alright.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
tooldude
01:30 PM on 09/22/2011
Yet somehow the Conservatives were elected, formed a gov't even though this was one of their campaign promises. Maybe this is what Canadians want, except for the criminals, I suppose.
01:36 PM on 09/22/2011
crime is down

recession is up

and what do the cons go after?
crime of course

why not an omnibus employment bill?
oh right, that might help most canadians
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
tooldude
01:54 PM on 09/22/2011
Why is it up to the gov't to find you a job? Go out and get your own job. Canada is full of opportunities for energetic people. Alberta has to bring in thousands of foreign workers to help keep the province running.
12:05 AM on 09/23/2011
Unemployment is at 7.3% less the the average of the last thirty years of 8.6%. Our economy is good right now, even better when you consider our largest trading partner has been sucking wind for last 4-5 years.
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01:39 PM on 09/22/2011
The Conservatives were elected with 39% of the popular vote so I would suggest that 61% of Canadians who have opinions about what their government should be doing do not want this legislation passed. Unless you want to argue the 61% of voting Canadians are criminals -- and that wouldn't surprise me coming from a supporter of the Conservatives...
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
tooldude
01:52 PM on 09/22/2011
And what was this one awesome party that was able to unite this magical 61% of the Canadian voting public? the way politics in Canada has been for the past several decade, with 2 main parties and a couple fringe parties, 39% can and will give you a majority gov't. This didn't seem to be a issue when the liberals formed a gov't with well below 39%.
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john frodo
armchair expert
01:26 PM on 09/22/2011
The liberals had a chance when they had a majority to bring in sensible drug laws, they did not.
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01:41 PM on 09/22/2011
Yeah so we must deserve this bill.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
piceaglauca
The picture says it all....
05:07 PM on 09/22/2011
What would be a sensible drug law?
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john frodo
armchair expert
09:17 AM on 09/23/2011
Decriminalization and like they have in half the US states, Mexico, Portugal, and Australia.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Jake Thomas
elastic
01:02 PM on 09/22/2011
In laymans terms Liberal MPs neglected to hold the door open leaving the House today.
Big deal.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
ProgressiveCDN
A Progressive Moderate
04:14 PM on 09/23/2011
In laymans terms? go read a layman's newspaper... may I suggest the Sun?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
ProgressiveCDN
A Progressive Moderate
12:55 PM on 09/22/2011
Thanks for the effort, Liberals & NDP.
But it's only delaying the inevitable.
This is what the NDP has created. By splitting the Canadian vote & handing over our govt to the NeoCons... It's gonna be a sad 4yrs.
Harper is going to kill this economy with this rediculous spending on unnecessary jails and all that comes along with those jails.... BILLIONS WASTED!!

Read More Here: http://liberallibra.wordpress.com/2011/09/20/harpers-omnibus-crime-bill/
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Jake Thomas
elastic
01:03 PM on 09/22/2011
The Liberal Party wrote the "playbook" on corruption.
01:08 PM on 09/22/2011
Did you get a bound copy?

You speak as though you are knowledgeable.

Maybe you missed all those history classes...
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
ProgressiveCDN
A Progressive Moderate
04:12 PM on 09/23/2011
Right... Because Brian Mulroney came AFTER Paul Martin right?!?

What A Joke!
The Liberal Party WROTE OUR CHARTER.
The Liberal Party REGULATED OUR BANKS.
The Liberal Party SAW YEARS OF WEALTH & PROSPERITY.

The Conservative Party... will see debt... and crime... and mysery... and only 4 years of majority rule.

http://liberallibra.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/harpers-government/
01:10 PM on 09/22/2011
Agreed.

A left-right polarization is just what Canada needs.

Conservative times are hard times.
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01:42 PM on 09/22/2011
Hard for anyone who isn't rich, certainly.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
tnanimation
12:54 PM on 09/22/2011
You will no doubt see a lot of this over the next four years. While the Liberals will actually put up a fight, the NDP will remain feckless and impotent.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
piceaglauca
The picture says it all....
05:08 PM on 09/22/2011
Right to the point. Howver Bob Rae isn't the answer unfortunately.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
tnanimation
05:30 PM on 09/22/2011
He will not be the long term leader, but Bob Rae is a powerful voice in the Liberal caucus.