Stampede! (1)

The four parties in the House of Commons are nearing a deal to fast track the government’s new employment-insurance legislation and put it to its first vote as early as Friday.

Government House Leader Jay Hill invited his Liberal, NDP and Bloc Québécois counterparts to a closed door meeting just after noon to discuss the government bill, which was officially introduced in the House of Commons Wednesday afternoon.

The Liberals announced Thursday morning that they are offering to pass the bill quickly, in the hope of taking away the NDP’s stated reason for keeping the Conservatives in office for the short term.

“We don’t want to give Mr. Layton any alibis,” Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said.

Following the meeting, NDP House Leader Libby Davies told The Globe and Mail that all sides are close to a deal and that negotiations are expected to continue throughout the day.

For now, Ms. Davies said the most likely scenario would see MPs wrap up the second reading debate on Friday with a vote to send the bill to committee. A House of Commons committee would then have the option of meeting during next week’s break to hear witnesses on the bill, or wait until the following week when the House of Commons is sitting again.

Prior to the bill’s introduction on Wednesday, NDP finance critic Thomas Mulcair said his party would keep the government in power long enough to pass the legislation provided the bill delivered what the government promised it would.

[More]

Notes:

This story bothered me today.  It’s clear that an administrative error caused the problem but here’s what the head puffin had to say about it:

“The minister cannot blame it on the bureaucrats. This is a matter of direct ministerial responsibility, and it sends a message that simply says, we expect aboriginal Canadians to die,” Mr. Ignatieff told reporters.

He did not call on Aglukkaq to resign, but said she should apologize for a mistake that sends a message of “deep disrespect” to Canadians.

“This requires a personal apology from that minister,” Mr. Ignatieff said.

“We feel that the minister has been sending out her bureaucrats when what’s required is a simple frank and human apology to Canadians,” Mr. Ignatieff also said. “This just isn’t good enough.”

Small wonder Frank McKenna told them to kiss his ass and walked away!  Who would want to be associated with this bunch?  It’s downright embarrassing.