Hell No We Won't Go!!

Shocking. Absolutely shocking. What has happened to the state of democracy in this country? A motion by Parliament asking for the resignation of Prime Minister Paul Martin and his government passed by a margin of 153-150. But you know what? The PM refuses to step down claiming that the motion was not a non-confidence vote. Liberal House Leader Tony Valeri...
[Valeri] told reporters today he has allocated three days in the last week of May for opposition parties to introduce motions and legislation. He said today's motion from the public accounts committee doesn't qualify as a no- confidence vote because it's only an instruction to a committee.

Good god we're really splitting hairs here aren't we? Technically speaking, while the motion introduced by the Conservatives may have been merely procedural, the wording was quite specific. As Peter of Blogging Tories member Rempelia Prime asked,
If the government cannot defeat a motion which explicitly states, the House no longer has confidence in this government, then on what authority does it continue to govern?

Indeed. Whether or not the motion was procedural is inconsequential. The Parliament of Canada has lost confidence in Paul Martin's Liberal government and have asked them to resign. Of course this may all be a mute point anyway. A so-called real vote of non-confidence is just around the corner - it may even occur over the budget. The government will then have no choice but to resign and call an election. It shouldn't have to go that far. Martin should have done the honourable thing by resigning this evening.

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cross-posted to Rite Turn Only

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