Liberal MP quits caucus over gay marriage, won't rule out defeating government
by Romeo St. Martin

[PoliticsWatch Updated 2:00 p.m. June 6, 2005]

OTTAWA  — The numbers game continued to change on Parliament Hill on Monday when Liberal MP Pat O'Brien announced he was resigning from the Liberal caucus and sitting as an independent. 

O'Brien is leaving the party after he said Prime Minister Paul Martin did not meet a commitment he made to him to have "full, fair and meaningful" hearings on the government's gay marriage legislation. 

"I'm disappointed," he said. "I just know that I was given a personal assurance by the prime minister and my judgment is it has not been kept at least to my satisfaction."

He said there appears to have been a "farcical consultation process taking place to try and appease Pat O'Brien."

The London, Ontario MP said he has no plans to join the Conservative caucus and may run as an independent in the next federal election. 

He also would not rule out defeating the government on a non-confidence motion if that would further the cause of defeating the government's gay marriage bill known as Bill C-38.

"That could be one way," he told reporters at a press conference in Ottawa.

"If the government is defeated before this legislation passes then obviously the legislation, at least temporarily, is defeated. But what I'm indicating to you is that's not my goal in life to defeat this government. My goal is to defeat Bill C-38. But I won't rule out any democratic means to do that."

And his threat is not idle.

With O'Brien's departure, the Liberals now need the support of three of the four independent MPs to survive a future confidence vote in the House. 

In the vote on the companion budget bill, Bill C-48, last month, the Liberals survived because two independent MPs - Chuck Cadman and Carolyn Parrish - voted with the government. 

Now, the Liberals would have to secure those two and one of O'Brien or David Kilgour, another former Liberal who voted against the government on the companion budget bill. 

Earlier this year, O'Brien publicly mused about his future in the Liberal caucus because of the gay marriage legislation. 

But he decided not to leave the caucus after the prime minister personally promised him "full, fair and meaningful hearings" on gay marriage in the legislative committee.

However, O'Brien on Monday said the hearings have become a "farce."

The final straw was a decision to put a June 14 deadline on the committee's work last week. 

Martin said he wants to have the legislation passed before the House recesses for the summer break. 

The gay marriage legislation passed second reading earlier this year, but 35 government MPs voted against it, including O'Brien. 

And while O'Brien said he does not know if other Liberals are considering following his example and sitting as independents, he did say that all is not well within the Liberal caucus because of the committee hearings. 

"If anyone thinks the Liberal caucus is just tamely accepting this farcical process then they're quite wrong," he said. 

According to O'Brien, Liberal MPs have been holding "confidential discussions about how we can get through to the prime minister and to the leadership of this government that it must not continue on this breakneck, headlong rush to redefine marriage."

O'Brien said he first informed Martin of his concerns on Thursday morning. 

In that meeting, O'Brien said he didn't like the answers Martin gave him. 

On the weekend, the London Free Press reported O'Brien was considering leaving the caucus. After that story broke, O'Brien said his phone "has been ringing off the hook" with calls from other Liberals, including cabinet ministers and people in the Prime Minister's Office. 

O'Brien said he made his final decision on Sunday evening. He spoke with Martin five minutes before his press conference. O'Brien said Martin expressed regret and told him he was making a mistake. 

Shortly after O'Brien made his announcement, Government House Leader Tony Valeri met with reporters on Parliament Hill and said he disagreed with the MP's assertion that the same-sex marriage committee hearings were a farce.

Valeri said the committee has even increased its witness list in an effort to hear from 63 witnesses. 

"I think that reasonable people will come to the conclusion that this issue has been discussed for quite some time," said Valeri.

Valeri also said the committee is expected to return the same-sex legislation to the House on June 16. 

He said that even though O'Brien has left the Liberal party the government would still work to gain his support on important pieces of legislation. 

That includes the two budget bills that the prime minister has promised to pass before the summer recess. 

"My focus and my intention and hope is to pass those budget bills and to get as much legislation through by (June 23). But if we don't then we are prepared to sit through the summer."

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