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OTTAWA - The Conservative government has decided those lowly one-page partisan MP mail-outs that tend to wind up in household recycling bins may not be worth the fight after all.
A majority of MPs in the House of Commons voted this week to ban mass mailings of "ten-per centers" outside their own ridings, directing the Board of Internal Economy, which controls internal Commons affairs, to "end immediately the wasteful practice."
The Conservatives argued vehemently against the ban during a day-long debate and then voted en masse against the Liberal motion, which included a grab bag of other partisan jabs against the government in addition to the bulk-mail directive.
As late as mid-afternoon Wednesday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper was cleverly needling the opposition during question period with a response that appeared to suggest he supported the ban - but only if it applied to Liberal mailings.
His office, asked to clarify the prime minister's comment, told The Canadian Press that the "PM is glad to see Liberal cancellation from the program given the poor taste the Liberals have shown in ten per center use."
"We will continue to use the program to communicate with Canadians," spokesman Andrew MacDougall said in an email.
Three hours later - after news reports of Conservative intransigence began to circulate - another PMO spokesman, Dimitri Soudas, emailed The Canadian Press to say the "Conservative caucus supports eliminating out-of-riding ten-per centers so long as this restriction applies to all parties."
That was the chief intent of the Liberal resolution all along.
It was the second about-face by the government in as many days, after it reversed a decision on cutting funding for rural Internet service in the face of public criticism.
In fact, the NDP, which voted for the Liberal motion, may be the party that gets the Conservatives off the hook on the bulk mailing issue.
NDP Leader Jack Layton launched a blistering tirade against "King Stephen Harper" only to waffle when it came down to whether his party would actually support the ten-per center ban behind the closed doors of the Board of Internal Economy meetings.
"There were some (measures in the motion) where we would have done it slightly differently and so we'll have to take those issues up at the Board of Internal Economy," Layton said when pressed on the ban.
His party House leader, Libby Davies, indicated the ten-per center vote may be the jumping-off point for a negotiation over bulk mail.
"We believe we've got to focus on the abuses and not rule out what is a legitimate use of ten-per centers by members outside of their own ridings," Davies, who sits on the board, said in an interview.
The NDP waffling on ten-per centers undermined its own determination to have the House of Commons impose new rules on the government's use of prorogation.
The NDP motion, requiring the prime minister to seek the consent of the Commons to prorogue Parliament for longer than seven days, passed 139-135 with the support of all three opposition parties later Wednesday.
"Mr. Harper's approach is sort of like a king," Layton before the vote. "He likes to ignore the motions of the House of Commons when it suits his convenience."
He pointed out that Harper, while in opposition, used to say government had a "moral obligation" to abide by motions passed by the Commons. Harper now routinely ignores them, including a motion to produce documents related to the Afghan detainee controversy.
"He's acting directly contrary to the will of the people that Canadians elected in the majority," Layton said.
"Perhaps he would prefer to be King Stephen Harper - but I'll tell you one thing, Canadians wouldn't appreciate that."
Harper shrugged off the prospect, telling Layton that only a constitutional amendment could rein in the prime minister's prorogation power and daring him to seek a mandate for that from Canadian voters.
By comparison, the fight over cheap, bulk-mail tracts is small change - but symbolic.
Liberals, who proposed the ten-per center motion earlier this week, have said they are immediately stopping all their out-of-riding mailings and maintain that if all parties follow suit it will save taxpayers at least $10 million annually. By a vote of 140-137 on Tuesday evening, the Commons agreed.
Liberal MP Ralph Goodale maintained the Commons vote binds the Board of Internal Economy, even if the vote itself is unprecedented.
"If the House of Commons has the authority, which it does, to order government departments to produce documents on issues as crucial as Afghanistan, then one would think that the House of Commons equally has the authority to issue instructions to an administrative body to save money," Goodale said.
The secretive and powerful Board of Internal Economy, chaired by the Commons Speaker, includes the party whips and House leaders of each political party. It operates by consensus, without any public scrutiny or comment, which helps calm deliberations but also ensures the board caters to the lowest common denominator.
The fly in the ointment is that the board's deliberations remain sealed, meaning no one party can be blamed if consensus is not found on the issue of curbing ten-per centers.
Critics argue the flyers have devolved into taxpayer-funded party propaganda.
Conservative MP Peter Goldring told the Hill Times newspaper in December that the flyers are co-ordinated and produced by the Conservative Research Group, not individual MPs.
Liberals say the same of their party.
"Now that we've identified this huge problem, we have to go back and rationalize the whole scheme," said Liberal MP Derek Lee.
"Does the taxpayer want to pay for political advertising that a party would send out? I think most taxpayers would say no."
The Liberals released an analysis of spending on taxpayer-funded printing costs by MPs for the last fiscal year that shows Conservative MPs averaged $49,680, New Democrats $33,825 and Liberals $18,500.
