WHAT IS DEEMED TO BE CONTEMPT OF PARLIAMENT?
Contempt of Parliament, is described in the  House of Commons Procedure and Practice manual: "any conduct which offends the authority or dignity of the House, even though no breach of any specific privilege may have been committed."

Contempt of Parliament is the offense of obstructing the Parliament and Parliamentary Committees from the carrying out of their functions.

PRECEDENT FOR HARPERÂąS CONTEMPT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE ON ETHICS AND ACCESS TO INFORMATION
In 2008, the Harper government was being investigated by the Parliamentary Committee on Ethics and Access to information. Harper and senior administrators ``advised`` the 67 MPs who were implicated in the 2006 in-and-out funding scheme (search ``Harper and prorogue`` in PEJ news for previous articles) to not appear before the Committee. When subpoenas were issued, again Harper or his agents advised the impugned MPs to refuse to appear. This action definitely demonstrated Contempt for the Parliamentary Committee, and impeded the Committee from carrying out its work. Harper then stepped down and called upon the Governor General to dissolve Parliament and call an election, which she did.
 
SUBSEQUENT HARPERÂąS CONTEMPT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
On November 19, 2009 Colvin, a Canadian diplomat in Afghanistan in 2006 and 2007, testified, before the special meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs,  that he tried repeatedly to raise concerns with senior military and government officials, about the treatment of Afghan detainees, but his concerns were ignored.

In his testimony he  challenged the position of  the Harper government that no evidence existed of abuse of prisoners captured by Canada. He also indicated that Canada had taken far more prisoners than other NATO countries.

The Harper government had been requested by Parliament to release documents, which they did, but in redacted form. Harper and the Conservatives were concerned about the implications of this investigations, and Harper called the Governor General and asked her to prorogue Parliament until March 3, which she did.

Parliament had been scheduled to resume on January 25, 2010, so the Liberals and the NDPs returned to work, and on  February 3, the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, investigating the treatment of Afghan detainees, resumed to meet informally, and heard testimony from Constitutional lawyers on various options available to the Opposition for procuring necessary unredacted documents. At the informal meeting, Errol Mendez, an expert in Constitutional Law, indicated that there was a possibility of demonstrating that the Harper government could be in contempt of Parliament.

Following the informal meeting, the NDP's foreign affairs critic, Dewar, said that he would send a letter, requesting the release of the documents, to the Minister of Justice, and if the Minister denied the request, he would advocate proceeding with an allegation of Contempt of Parliament. Bob Rea, the Liberal Foreign Affairs Critic, also was considering the option of an allegation of Contempt of Parliament. Claude Bachand. Bloc Foreign Affairs critic, even referred to Canada as being a Banana Republic, and said that the Bloc was considering a number of options including allegation of Contempt of Parliament.

POTENTIAL REMEDY: GOVERNOR GENERAL TO INVOKE ARTICLE  V OF HER LETTRES PATENT.

In the event that Harper is deemed to be in contempt of Parliament and Parliamentary Committees, the Governor General could use her powers under Article V of her Lettres Patent, which reads: .

"and we do further authorize and empower our Governor General, so far as we lawfully may, upon sufficient cause to him [her] appearing, to remove from his Office, or to suspend from the exercise of the same, any person exercising an Office within Canada, under or by virtue of any commission or warrant granted, or which may be granted, by us in our name or under our authority."

Surely, being in contempt of both Parliament and Parliamentary Committees. is sufficient cause. for suspending Harper and his impugned ministers.

OTHER REMEDIES

There are remedies for Contempt of Parliament

€ 1913. Businessman R.C. Miller is found in contempt of Parliament after refusing to answer questions from the public accounts committee and :at the bar: of the House of Commons. He was imprisoned for four months until the Parliamentary session ended.

·        2008- RCMP Deputy Commissioner, Barbara George, was accused of misleading the House at a Parliamentary Committee Hearing. In February and December, 2007 she appeared before the Public Accounts Committee. She denied that she was involved in the removal of  Staff-Sgt. Mike Frizzell from the RCMP.This was an Ottawa police probe into the governance of the Mounties' $12-billion pension and insurance plans. February  12, 2008, the All-party Committee recommended that the House of Commons find her in contempt of Parliament. It appears that remedies were being sought through the courts.

·         2010, Might  Harper finally be deemed to be in contempt of Parliament and Parliamentary Committees, and  be suspended, removed or jailed?