No detainee committee, no deal Liberals say

[AgentM]

The immediate recall of the all-party committee investigating the Afghan detainee scandal is the price the Liberals are exacting from the Tories for their support to sit through two break weeks this spring.

There are other demands, too.

The Liberals want a guarantee that all ministers will be “fully available” whenever requested. They want all other Commons committees to be reconstituted within the first three sitting days so they can deal with government estimates. (It usually takes a week to 10 days for committees to get up to speed after a prorogation.) And they want four designated opposition days during March.

Liberal Whip Rodger Cuzner laid out these demands in a letter to his Tory counterpart, Gordon O’Connor. It says these criteria must be met in order for the Tories to “repair some of the damage” caused by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision to shut down Parliament until after the Olympic Games.

Mr. Cuzner noted that Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff quickly said his caucus would agree to sitting the two weeks requested by the Tories. Clearly, Mr. Ignatieff’s agreement does not come without a price.

The Conservatives surprised everyone when they announced last week that they were canceling two break weeks –one in March and one in April. Opposition critics said this was a desperation tactic, arguing the Tories were trying to blunt the criticism they took from their decision to prorogue.

All party agreement is required, however, to change the parliamentary calendar.

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No detainee committee, no deal on break weeks, Liberals say - The Globe and Mail

Good for the Grits!