NDP accuse Conservatives of being ‘agents of chaos’ as government business grinds to a halt

NDP House leader Peter Julian said there’s more work his party wants to get done in the House of Commons before the next election, despite how chaotic the first weeks of the fall sitting have been.

But if other parties make that work impossible, it could factor into the NDP’s voting decisions, he said Friday.

In just three weeks, two Conservative non-confidence motions have failed to bring down the Liberal government — but the Opposition promises more to come.

The New Democrats have said they will decide how to vote on those motions case-by-case, based on what they believe is in the best interests of Canadians.

“We think all parliamentarians should be stepping up at this difficult time so that Canadians get the benefit of support from the federal government,” Julian said in an interview.

“Primarily, our focus should be on Canadians, and if it becomes apparent that the Liberals and Conservatives are not focused on that, then we’ll take that into consideration when we make our decisions.”

Julian’s constituents have told him they are not interested in an election now, he said, but the party plans to take each decision as it comes.

He accused the Conservatives of being “agents of chaos” in the House of Commons after the government’s legislative agenda ground to a halt this week.

The House has been mired in debate over a matter of privilege that has superseded most other business.

It stems from an order from the House of Commons for the government to produce unredacted documents related to misspent government funds so they can be handed over to the RCMP.

House Speaker Greg Fergus ruled last Thursday that the government “clearly did not fully comply” with the order, which is related to a now-defunct foundation responsible for doling out hundreds of millions of federal dollars for green technology projects.

In his ruling, Fergus said the issue is complicated and should be referred to a committee for study.

Liberal House leader Karina Gould says the demand is an abuse of Parliamentary powers, which should not infringe on the rights of Canadians to due process.

“This is an extremely alarming precedent that they are setting,” she said in an interview Friday.

Other government business on hold

Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer says the state of affairs was “self-inflicted” by the Liberals, and it will continue until the government hands the documents over to police.

For their part, the RCMP have said they are investigating the foundation, but would not likely be able to use the documents in a criminal case even if the House provided them.

On Thursday, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme told reporters the Mounties already have the documents in question.

A spokesperson for the RCMP told CBC News on Friday that the police force received the documents in August as a result of the House order.

“The RCMP can confirm having received the documents from the Office of the House of Commons Law Clerk relating to Sustainable Development and Technologies Canada (SDTC) which were collected in August pursuant to an Order of the House of Commons,” the spokesperson said in an email.

“While the Commissioner has confirmed there is an investigation, given its ongoing status the RCMP is not in a position to provide additional details pertaining to the documents in question.”

But a letter from the House law clerk to the Speaker’s office suggests the RCMP may not have received all the documents the House requested.

The letter, dated Sept. 16, says that more documents from Innovation, Science and Economic Development were still forthcoming at the time. It also says that documents from the Department of Justice “were currently completely withheld.”