Mr. Speaker, I would like to draw the government House leader's attention to the following passage from page 95 of Eugene Forsey's “The Question of Confidence in Responsible Government”, which is considered to be the Canadian bible on the confidence convention: “A Ministry which could not control the House sufficiently to carry Supply and essential business would have to be dismissed if it did not resign or seek a new House by dissolution.”
This morning, after reading the projected order of business, published by the House, I noticed the House leader had not bothered to schedule any government business. Since last week, she has been struggling to propose her ways and means motion regarding the small business and middle class tax hikes and the capital gains tax changes, a signature piece of her government's financial agenda. Has she abandoned that initiative? Has she abandoned those tax hikes? Has the minister conceded that she has effectively lost control of the House?
The government prefers to have Parliament ground to a halt rather than handing over the documents that the House lawfully ordered to be produced and transmitted to the RCMP. It would rather keep the House seized with this corruption motion rather than simply complying with the production order and living up to basic expectations of transparency.
If she is going to refuse to comply with the House order and is unable to bring forward any other business to the House, will she at the very least encourage the Prime Minister to dissolve the House so that Canadians can have their say in a carbon tax election?