Parliament must vote on Iraq

PARLIAMENT HILL--Prime Minister Jean ChrÃ©tien has had a way over the last nine years of adopting policies of Brian Mulroney that the Liberals once opposed, like Free Trade. In this, he has helped, at least in some quarters, to redeem Mr. Mulroney's image. What is less openly noted is the many other ways that ChrÃ©tien has made Mulroney look good in comparison. Sadly, one of these ways has been ChrÃ©tien's refusal to countenance the possibility of a meaningful vote in Parliament to approve, or disapprove, of any decision on Canadian participation in a war on Iraq. The Liberal government has taken the stand that if opposition MPs want a vote on Iraq then all they have to do is use one of their opposition days to put down a motion and have the House vote on it. The very idea that this is the only way that Parliament can vote on such an obviously important issue is proof positive of one of ChrÃ©tien's real legacies -- an overriding and overwhelming contempt for Parliament. The Liberal stock answer to requests for assurances of a vote stands in stark moral and procedural contrast to what would be a real legacy -- having the political courage to put down a motion of its own for debate and a vote. Compounding the injury to Parliament, the Prime Minister won't even use the House as a place to make major policy pronouncements on the issue. Time and again Canadians, including Members of Parliament, must rely on media reports of what he said to a crowd in Chicago, or on an American TV program. Compare this with the fact that during the time leading up to and including the Gulf War, the House of Commons debated and voted on three different motions introduced by the Mulroney government itself. The timing and content of these motions were controversial, debatable, and there was debate. The votes were not unanimous. But Parliament had a chance to express itself, and in so doing, Parliament was fulfilling the role described for it by none other than long-time Liberal prime minister Mackenzie King when he said on Feb. 1st, 1923, in the House of Commons: "It is for Parliament to decide whether or not we should participate in wars in different parts of the world, and it is neither right nor proper for any individuals to take any step which in any way might limit the rights of Parliament in a matter which is of such great concern to all the people of the country." If Prime Minister Jean ChrÃ©tien doesn't want to follow Mulroney's example, perhaps he would find it more politically palatable to take the lead from King. In 1939, King recalled Parliament early for a debate and a vote before the declaration of war against Germany. This was the famous vote in which J.S. Woodsworth, leader of the CCF and a life-long pacifist, voted alone. All the other CCF MPs, including Tommy Douglas, supported the declaration of war. Since 1947 there have been nine different occasions on which deployment of Canadian troops has been subjected to a vote in the House of Commons. Some of the votes were after deployment, some were before. Such votes took place under prime ministers St. Laurent, Diefenbaker, Pearson, Trudeau, and Mulroney. During Prime Minister ChrÃ©tien's time there have been no such votes or promises of such votes, either in the context of Kosovo, Afghanistan, or now Iraq. Even prime minister Robert Borden, in 1914, convened a special war session of the House Aug. 18, 1914, in which the vote to approve the address in reply to a Speech from the Throne, which dealt with what measures the government would take to deal with the war, was seen as an opportunity for Parliament to register its opinion. Jean ChrÃ©tien's attitude toward Parliament so far does have a precedent. It's not to be found in the 20th century, but rather the end of the nineteenth. In October, 1899 a Liberal prime minister, Wilfrid Laurier, committed Canada to participation in the Boer War without Parliament being involved. The 20th century was devoted to emerging from colonial status. Is the 21st century to be a time for slipping back into a newer form of such colonial status? Paul Martin says he is serious about Parliamentary reform and giving MPs a more important role to play. Now is his time to prove it by siding with those in Parliament who are insisting, should Canada participate in a war on Iraq, that there be a vote on a government motion mandating such participation, especially if it lacks UN approval, but even if there is a Security Council resolution to authorize such a war. Pierre Trudeau is famous for his remark that MPs are nobodies once they are off the Hill. Jean ChrÃ©tien seems intent on completing Trudeau's vision of Parliament by making MPs nobodies on the Hill, especially when it comes to really important things like war or peace. NDP Parliamentary Leader Bill Blaikie represents the federal riding of Winnipeg-Transcona, Man. The Hill Times

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Parliament must vote on Iraq

MPs must rely on media reports or American TV programs to find out about ChrÃ©tien

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