Harper Refuses to Retract His Statement

Stephen Harper walked into question period on Thursday flanked by family members of those who died in the Air India bombing, a move that CBC's commentators noticed was quite unusual since it's rare for a prime minister to enter the house with non-political guests.

Question period then began with a request from Liberal MP Navdeep Bains for Harper to retract his remarks which Bains characterized as an attack on his integrity and that of his family. Harper refused, of course, and his response was quite telling:

Harper: Mr Speaker, I have to say first of all that I met earlier today with representatives of the families of the 300 Canadians who were killed on the Air India flight. As we all know, this is an important matter. 300 Canadians tragically lost their lives. Look, Mr Speaker, while I don't accept the premise of the honourable member's question I will say this, that I would take and I think this government will undertake any action necessary to ensure that we put in place the measures to allow the police to do their investigation and to ensure that these things never occur again.

When Bains asked Harper to retract his remarks once again, this was Harper's response:

Harper: Once again, Mr Speaker, I'm not sure precisely what remarks he's referring to. If the honourable member denies any particluar element in that Vancouver Sun story, I'd be more than happy to accept his word on the matter. At the same time though, Mr Speaker, I can't say how important it is that we proceed with the police investigation on the Air India inquiry. The Liberal party knows this is important. They put these measures in place. Bob Rae told them that they're necessary and I would hope the Liberal party would reverse their position for the benefit of the Air India families and for all Canadians and do the right thing.

So, let's recap.

Harper claimed to be reading from the Vancouver Sun article on Wednesday when he said this in the house:

Harper: Mr Speaker, obviously the Liberal party opposes the change we've made which is to give the police a voice in this process. I'm not surprised, Mr Speaker, given what I'm reading in the Vancouver Sun today when I read this is how the Liberal party makes decisions.

"The Vancouver Sun has learned that the father-in-law of the member of parliament for Mississauga-Brampton..."

The article actually reads this way:

The Vancouver Sun has learned that Bains's father-in-law, Darshan Singh Saini, is on the RCMP's potential list of witnesses at investigative hearings designed to advance the Air India criminal probe.

So, Harper reframed the wording to begin his attack against Bains and the Liberal party, at which point he was shouted down.

Today, he admits he and his government will use "any action necessary" to get what they want in this matter. As we now see, that includes smearing a Liberal MP.

Further, he then tries to deny that he even knows what Bains was referring to but then goes on to make it clear that he actually does know that it was, in fact, those comments about the Vancouver Sun article. (What else could it be?) To then add insult to injury, Harper invites Bains to challenge the assertions in that article - moving the goal posts once again - all the while posturing himself as the saviour for the Air India families whom he had brought into parliament with him.

His motives just don't get any more tranparent than that and his words speak loudly and clearly. He will stop at nothing to get what he wants and he doesn't care who he steamrolls over in the process.