Recapping the last couple of months in Parliament

...."Together the Conservatives and Bloc passed a motion in the house that called for the resignation of the Prime Minister. All three opposition parties agreed that the passage of the amendment represented a vote of non-confidence, but the government hid behind legalistic interpretations and refused to settle the question by calling for a vote of confidence.

For the rest of the week the opposition parties shut down the House of Commons, keeping it open just long enough to give the government another chance to prove (if they could) that they still had the confidence of the house. Rather than do so, the Liberals promised a budget vote on the 19th of May.

The government tried to pass off the idea that a week's delay would make no difference, but in reality they bought themselves time to finish working out a deal with Belinda Stronach to bring her across the floor into Martin's cabinet. Now British Columbia MP Gurmant Grewal and his wife reportedly have a tape recording of similar attempts to buy their votes.

If the Liberals manage to survive the budget vote today, it will only be because they defied the will of Parliament long enough to use taxpayer funds to buy votes they would have never gotten otherwise. A Liberal victory would represent the end of responsible government in Canada. We would be left with nothing but an empty shell of democracy where the only virtue is power and the only vice is getting caught.

The Liberal party has raided the public purse, violated electoral law, limited opposition in the House of Commons, defied the will of Parliament and now appears to be bribing Members of Parliament. If that isn't enough to justify an election, what is?"

Paul Albers is a freelance columnist living in Ottawa