Let’s Hear it For Some Committee Luv

This just in from our fearless leader today:
“If the opposition disagrees with us, they should do it in the open, not in some committee meeting, not in the unelected Senate, and not by endlessly stalling a democratic vote,” concluded Prime Minister Harper.

Now the last time I checked, committees are one of the most open and democratic components of our parliamentary system. They are open to the public (i.e. you can actually sit in the room with the MPs – unlike the House where you have to watch from the gallery); they are broadcast live on CPAC (and on repeat for those sleepless nights).

In the last two years, I spent a lot of time in parliamentary committees and unless things have drastically changed, I don’t really understand what Harper means by his “some committee meeting” clip.

Committees are, in my mind, on of the most open, heartening displays of MPs working together in the legislative process. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to hear Ed Broadbent concur with Stockwell Day. But I was a witness to it, as well as many other displaces of cross party agreement and fruitful discussion. Committees are great. They can be partisan and unruly, but they also exemplify that for the most part, MPs pick their profession because they are committed to public service and to the improving the common good. It’s how different parties tend to define the common good that things can get a little dicey.

And as for the last part of Harper’s quote on endlessly stalling… wasn’t it one of his government MPs that just recently filibustered in committee? If that’s not endlessly stalling the democratic process, I’m not sure what is….