Canada: Could Crime Bill Impasse Bring Down Harper Government?

The Conservative government of Stephen Harper is pushing crime policy to the forefront as it attempts to replicate a US-style drug war.

The Ottawa Citizen reported on Feb. 8, 2008 ("Pass Crime Bill or Go to Polls, Tories Say") that "Looking more and more like it is bent on an election, the Harper government set another potential trap for the Liberals yesterday, introducing a motion urging the Senate to pass the government's violent-crime bill by the start of next month, but the Liberals promptly dismissed the move as a "juvenile trick." The motion, expected to be put to a vote next week, calls on the Senate to pass the Tackling Violent Crime Act by March 1. The government has declared it a confidence motion, meaning an election could be triggered if the measure is defeated."

According to the Citizen, "There are now three potential triggers for a spring election in the next seven weeks. Besides the crime motion, the government will face confidence votes over the federal budget at the end of this month, plus a motion to extend the Afghanistan mission that is expected to be put to a vote in late March. However, it appeared yesterday that the crime motion would pass. NDP leader Jack Layton said his party would vote against the motion, but Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe said he had 'no problem' with it. Liberal leader Stephane Dion also vowed that his party would not fall for what he called a 'juvenile trick,' suggesting the Liberals will abstain from the vote. Mr. Dion accused the government of trying to engineer its own defeat before having to table the budget."

The Citizen noted that "Earlier, government House Leader Peter Van Loan warned there would be a "clear impasse" between the two chambers of Parliament if the Commons approved the motion, but the Senate doesn't pass the bill. If that happens, the prime minister could ask the Governor General to dissolve Parliament, thus triggering an election, on the grounds the Senate is preventing the government from carrying out its agenda. Experts debated whether such a move would be constitutional, especially since Parliament last year passed a bill setting fixed election dates. The next election is set for October 2009, unless the opposition defeats the government."