Bill C-291 Unborn Victims of Crime Bill: Not Dead Yet

As you probably know if you read Lifesite, C-291 was voted down in Committee. The Procedure and House Affairs Committe (PROC) voted 7-1 to concur in the sub-committee report, i.e. accept its findings. Because the ParlVu website was down during the time the meeting was taking place, I did not get to see the meeting, and the evidence presented in front of the Committee is not available on the PROC website, yet. I'm trying not to be conspiracy-minded, but I find it suspicious that the website went down just as the meeting started, and it came back online after it adjourned. Did someone higher up not want the public to see this case?

Nonetheless, you can read the minutes here. The vote was done by show of hands, so it wasn't recorded. That's another thing that should change. I am really getting pissed off at how the government operates. I have the democratic right to know how our elected officials vote on these matters, and I am sure that there are those on the leftist side of the spectrum who'd agree with me. There should be way more transparency about such matters. I want to know what Vic Toews said about the constitutionality of the Bill. He said it's unconstitutional, but I want to know why. Was this included in the evidence? And what is his reasoning?

The "Evidence"-- that is, what Leon Benoit said to the committee should be up soon, and I will keep an eye out for it.

At about 1 p.m. or so today, I phoned Leon Benoit's office to find out the results and whether there was hope. The lady who answered the phone was in a bit of a rush because she was getting ready for question period, but she explained to me in a nutshell that Leon Benoit could, in the next five days, circulate a petition among MP's and ask the Speaker to call a secret vote on whether C-291 is votable. If so, second reading could proceed. I'm not sure whether the acceptance of the petition is entirely dependent on the Speaker's will, or whether there is a set number that automatically grants him the right to a secret vote.If the secret vote loses, we know the Bill would not have passed anyway.