Will Liberal MP Gerard Kennedy be held in contempt of Parliament?

Will Liberal MP Gerard Kennedy be held in contempt of Parliament?

Despite a valiant attempt, Liberal MP Gerard Kennedy (Parkdale-High Park) couldn't convince Bloc MPs on the House of Commons' Transport Committee on Tuesday to kill a Tory motion that calls out the not-so-media-shy MP for releasing details of camera proceedings of the committee. The motion, passed on Tuesday, says committee members "felt that their privilege had been breached" and the whole in camera process "had been jeopardized."

The matter is now in the hands of the Speaker of the House of Commons "to give the House an opportunity to reflect on these matters and consider holding the Member for Parkale-High Park in contempt."

You see, it seems Kennedy was keen to get some public credit for getting a motion passed at the committee last month to study the impact of the government's March 31, 2011 deadline for infrastructure stimulus projects -- one of the few files Kennedy has been able to get some ink. But in his zeal for attention, Kennedy may have revealed a little too much information (that is was his motion; and it received all-party support).

Kennedy apologized to the Committee on Tuesday, explaining that as a long-time politician and former chairman of a committee, he's a big believer in the parliamentary process. But his mea culpa wasn't enough to keep him out of hot water. The Bloc transport critic Mario Laframboise was particularly unimpressed, saying the more Kennedy spoke, the less "confident" he felt. "He wanted this motion to be made public.... It was a strategy on your part, you planned your intervention.... You planned to send this to all municipalities," Laframboise told Kennedy.

Yikes (or should I say Zing).

But did Tory MP and parliamentary secretary Brian Jean, who moved the motion, reveal a little too much himself? During the debate about whether Kennedy may have breached privilege, Jean mentioned that Kennedy had moved a motion during the month's in camera proceeding to take the debate out of camera. At the request of NDP transport critic Dennis Bevington, the chairman of the committee will now look at this question.

Ah, the joys of the parliamentary process.

--Sarah Schmidt