Opposition Steps Up Pressure to Oust Oda

A Commons committee will ask House Speaker Peter Milliken to judge whether the minister for international co-operation is in contempt of Parliament.

Opposition MPs, and no doubt many Canadians, are asking why Bev Oda still has a job after she appears to have lied to Parliament about doctoring a document that eliminated funding for the Kairos aid group. The foreign affairs committee, which is dominated by the opposition, concluded deliberations Wednesday and decided to ask Milliken to find her in contempt of Parliament. No sitting minister has even been found in contempt, and such a verdict would all but end Oda’s political career. But the process of censuring a minister has to go through several stages, which could take weeks, and a possible election that’s widely being predicted for this spring could derail the proceedings. Stephen Harper has stood behind his embattled minister.