POWER OF COMMONS 'IS A MYTH,' EX-PM SAYS

MPs OVERPOWERED BY PMO, BUREAUCRATS says former Liberal Prime Minister John Turner -Ottawa Citizen October 8, 2003 p.A4

by Bill Curry

On the same day prime minister-in-waiting Paul Martin met with Liberal MPs to discuss the "democratic deficit," former Liberal prime minister John Turner delivered a blistering attack on the state of the federal government.

Mr. Turner, who led the country from June to September 1984 before his government was defeated by Conservative Brian Mulroney, argued back-bench MPs are overpowered by career bureaucrats and the Prime Minister's Office.

Mr. Turner listed a host of problems faced by MPs, lashing out at the government's overuse of closure, which he described as "absolutely astonishing".

Mr. Turner was speaking at the launch of a new Canadian documentary called Does Your Vote Count? which highlights a series of problems faced by members of Parliament. For instance, the video shows that from 1913 to 1979, the government shut down debate 31 times. From 1980 to present, closure has been used at least 166 times.

Coincidentally, just hours after delivering his speech, the Liberal government used closure on Bill C-17, the controversial anti-terrorism bill.

Mr. Turner said he agrees with NDP MP Bill Blaikie's description of Parliament as an "elected dictatorship". Government House leader Don Boudria bristled when asked about the timing of Mr. Turner's remarks about closure.

"Its an interesting comment. I wonder if former prime minister Turner has counted how many times the opposition has moved to deliberately stall the legislation. One really can't measure one with having measured the other. I'm sure he must have spent countless hours counting the other, otherwise he wouldn't have made a statement like that."

In addition to the government's use of closure, Mr. Turner's speech also lashed out at party disciple and the increasing power of the federal bureaucracy . " The power of the House of Commons is a myth," he said.

On party disciple, Mr. Turner called for major changes to the role of party whips, who are responsible for telling MPs how to vote, occasionally threatening MPs that perks will be lost if orders are not followed. "I think the party whip should be lifted except on a throne speech, when the matter of the confidence of the government is at stake, or on a budget, where you're talking taxing and spending," he said.

He said powerful MPs would be an effective counter pressure to the federal bureaucracy, and that restoring faith among the public that their MPs can make a difference will go a long way toward reversing the decline in voter turnout