Opposition Parties Were Against Working For Canadians Not That Long Ago.

It's really kind of pathetic when you think about it. The opposition parties crying about the house not sitting for 28 days. The MSM also frothing at the bit about how Canadians are up in arms about MP's not working (completely omitting the fact they should be in their constituency offices working).

What's really ironic is that when presented with chances to extend hours before, the opposition parties decided to vote against extended sitting hours for two weeks prior to summer shutdown.

"OTTAWA – All three Opposition parties have joined together to defeat a traditional government motion to extend the working hours of parliament for the final two weeks of the session, putting important legislation at risk.

“It’s clear the Opposition are not interested in the hard work necessary to address priorities that matter to my constituents and to all Canadians,” says Battlefords-Lloydminster, MP, Hon. Gerry Ritz. The Conservative government moved to ask parliament to extend the hours of parliamentary business to 11 p.m. for the next two weeks, as is the long-standing practise of the House of Commons. It was defeated Monday evening by a vote of 139 to 114 with all Opposition members voting against.

“Canadians elect Members of Parliament to work on their behalf and they expect them to put in the time required, to show up to vote and to be prepared to attend for longer hours as necessary,” says Ritz. Extended sitting hours were officially formalized by parliament in 1982 as a way to complete or advance business prior to summer break. On 11 previous occasions, the motion has never before been defeated.

Now correct me if I'm wrong, and I'll search for the link, but I'm pretty sure the opposition parties voted against extended hours last year as well. Even more surprising is I think a certain CBC blogger, previously employed by Macleans, blogged that this was embarrassing for the Conservative government because it was the first time that motion had been defeated by opposition parties. And I don't recall her screaming how it was undemocratic, let alone starting a facebook page to protest the lazy actions of the opposition parties.

Update: Yes, my memory was correct. Here is what former ITQ girl Kady thought about the opposition parties refusing to work extended hours in 2009 to pass legislation before summer recess. Perhaps someone could point out where she implies it's undemocratic or unfair for opposition MP's not to follow parliamentry tradition.

"By Kady O'Malley - Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at 12:29 PM
So, do y’all remember what happened last year, when Peter Van Loan achieved the dubious notoriety of becoming the first government house leader in Canadian parliamentary history to lose a vote on a routine motion to extend sitting hours before the summer recess? Well, I’m watching CPAC right now, and it looks like Jay Hill may be about to become the second. I’ll let you know what happens after the vote.

UPDATE: Still voting, but all three opposition parties appear to be voting against the motion, which means that it will come down to which side was able to get more MPs in the House on short (well, fifteen minutes) notice.

FINAL UPDATE: Yup, that’s one dead motion. Expect a snarlingly self-righteous press release from Hill’s office within the hour.

AFTERTHOUGHTDATE: As I just noted to a friend via email, “To lose a routine motion to extend the sitting hours once is a tragedy; twice looks like carelessness.” (On the off".