OF MACE AND MEN

When Jean Chretien's party wants to stop something, it finds a way, even
when its methods show contempt for parliamentary tradition. In this case,
party discipline was improperly invoked to block a private member's bill
from Canadian Alliance MP Keith Martin. That, in turn, led Dr. Martin also
to behave reprehensibly.

His bill, C-344, would have decriminalized marijuana, a thought that is not
politically attractive to the Liberals. Still, it is tradition that the
government does not "whip" its MPs into voting the party line on private
member's bills. But this government did, and cynically.

You see, Liberal MPs were not ordered to vote against C-344. Heavens, no.
They were merely ordered to vote to "amend" the motion that would have let
it continue on its way through the House to consideration by a
parliamentary committee. Amend it how? Basically by adding the little word
"not."

That effectively killed the bill.

Dr. Martin was understandably frustrated by such sleight of hand. So he
promptly disgraced himself by seizing the Mace, which symbolizes the
Speaker's authority, and grumbling about the whole affair while clutching
it. (His explanation appears on the opposite page.)

The tradition that MPs do not indulge in such breaches of the peace in the
House is even more important than the tradition of free votes on private
bills. As Ludwig Wittgenstein said, restoring old traditions is like trying
"to repair a broken spider's web with one's bare hands."

The Alliance should hold most firmly to traditions when the Liberals break
them most brazenly. Both the Liberals and Dr. Martin acted badly.