Parliament Hill Ticker
All the latest news, views, musings and rumours from the precinct and beyond.
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Okay, Nathan Cullen is up now. He says that the speaker's ruling confirms that the House will be voting "around the clock". #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 4:39:37 PM -
(Note: Not quite one full rotation around the clock, for the record.) #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 4:39:54 PM
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Cullen is NOT blaming the speaker, but laments the extraordinary circumstance in which he found himself. #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 4:40:14 PM
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The government, Cullen notes, will have to "pack their jammies" as well. #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 4:40:50 PM
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I've been timing them over the last few weeks, and I think 7 minutes per vote is the most accurate. #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 4:42:12 PM
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The NDP maintains that it will "use all the means available to us", and strategy will be developed as time goes by. #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 4:42:51 PM
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I guess if the opposition stands up reaaaaaallly slowly, it could push it to ten minutes per vote. #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 4:43:39 PM
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I'm not sure why Nycole Turmel is assuming the voting will start on Wednesday night, btw. #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 4:44:37 PM
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"All of this could have been avoided," Cullen marvels. All of it! All 18-24 hours of voting of it! #Hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 4:45:30 PM
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I should probably note that 18 hours IS a very, very long vote. #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 4:47:12 PM
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"Of all the terrible governments we've had in the past," Cullen notes, none have been quite so terrible re: omnibus bills as this one. #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 4:50:27 PM
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"It's like being in court," Rae says on the speaker's ruling. "You don't get mad" every time he or she rules against you. #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 4:57:26 PM
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Partisans take note: Both Cullen and Rae made it clear that they aren't planning on grumbling over this ruling. #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 4:58:11 PM
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.@ElizabethMay cracks joke in the House: I don't like to be biblical, but beware the wages of spin. #hw #cdnpoliby Laura Payton via twitter 6/11/2012 4:58:59 PM -
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Also, I can't quite figure out why so many people seem to be assuming votes will start on Wednesday. #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 5:01:47 PM
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I'm not sure why the government would want to wait til then. I mean, it *can*, but what's the rationale? #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 5:02:07 PM
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In any case, we may find out when the government house leader gives notice of time allocation later today. #Hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 5:02:24 PM
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It feels like a caucus day today in QP, everyone seems jazzed up for some non-stop voting later this week. #hwby Alison Crawford via twitter 6/11/2012 6:23:25 PM -
Leblanc says he's interested in what the role is of members of delegation...what involvement they have before #ATT mtg #hwby Alison Crawford via twitter 6/11/2012 7:58:28 PM
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Btw, still waiting for PVL to make his way to the Foyer to give *his* take on the coming #omnibudget madness. #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 8:00:16 PM
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Massoud says he fully trusts members of his delegation, that they all sign confidentiality agreements and in his exp never violated #hwby Alison Crawford via twitter 6/11/2012 8:02:15 PM
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And here's Peter Van Loan, looking surprisingly chipper for a man heading into a storm of extreme parliamentary democracy. #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 8:02:48 PM
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Leblanc asked if Massoud aware that member of his delegation may be spilling beans about #ATT negs on canadiangunnutz.com #hwby Alison Crawford via twitter 6/11/2012 8:03:28 PM
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PVL plays coy on the date -- he won't say exactly when the voting will begin. #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 8:03:31 PM
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Oh, and yes, once the motion to extend the sitting passes, the House could sit till midnight every night until the adjournment.#hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 8:04:20 PM
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Yes, in theory, that means the vote-a-thon itself could get underway at 11pm, I guess. #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 8:05:14 PM
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PVL seems supremely confident that the government will win every one of those 159 votes. No confidence crisis here! #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 8:05:30 PM
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Aaaand that's it for Peter Van Loan! Now, a return appearance by Nathan Cullen. #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 8:06:30 PM
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Cullen, interestingly, *also* wonders at how "cagey" the government is being on the issue of timing. #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 8:06:57 PM
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Government is being weirdly cagey about when the budget votes will start. Tomorrow? Wednesday? Thursday? Who knows. #hw #cdnpoliby Laura Payton via twitter 6/11/2012 8:07:15 PM
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He suspects that procedural shenanigans may be being plotted behind closed doors. #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 8:07:21 PM
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Cullen notes that the rules surrounding the #omnibudget votes have been established, thanks to the speaker's ruling. #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 8:08:13 PM
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But Cullen still suggests that there could be a strategy afoot of dumping bad legislation during the pre-adjournment midnight madness. #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 8:08:58 PM
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"They made their bed, they have to lie in it," Cullen notes -- and as far as he's concerned, budget votes are confidence votes. #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 8:09:41 PM
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Massoud agrees "it's going to be quite a dilemma" when it comes to how UN will distinguish bet terrorists & freedom fighters undet #ATT #hwby Alison Crawford via twitter 6/11/2012 8:10:00 PM
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Again, Cullen stresses, this is a situation that *the government* created. Not the fault of the opposition. #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 8:10:17 PM
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Cullen also brings up his point of privilege, and his concern that the House is "voting blind" on cuts to the public service. #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 8:11:02 PM
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Unlike the PM, who finds democracy "inconvenient," Cullen still has a fondness for it, he assures reporters. #hwby kady o'malley via twitter 6/11/2012 8:11:51 PM
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Laverdiere points out when Baird testified on #ATT he didn't know how delegation put together...Massoud said earlier it was up to Min. #hwby Alison Crawford via twitter 6/11/2012 8:12:36 PM