The Fruits Of Scandal

As I argued several months back, The Cadman Scandal in and of itself was likely to precipitate the death of several controversial Tory initiatives that might be used as election triggers, one of these being bill C-46, which would have ended the Canadian Wheat Board's barley monopoly . Well, with Cadmania history but several other scandals unfolding, this prediction seems to be coming true.

There's "no way" the Conservative government can pass Bill C-46 before the House of Commons breaks for summer in mid-June, according to NDP MP Pat Martin.

Basically, the Tories have placed their bill so low on the parliamentary agenda that it will never reach the debate stage. Furthermore, earlier threats to make C-46 a confidence measure appear to have evaporated:

Martin said he would not rule out the possibility of seeing C-46 turned into a confidence motion, meaning failure to pass the bill in Parliament would bring down the government and trigger a federal election.

[A] Conservative spokesperson declined to comment on the whether or not that is something the government is considering.

Compare that to this bit of bluster in March from agriculture minister Gerry Ritz and you can see how far the Tories have fallen.

My advice to the opposition parties? Follow the ways of the noble Komodo Dragon, which bites its prey once, and then may pursue it for days while it slowly weakens and bleeds to death. Patience, brothers and sisters, patience!