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At this point, it almost doesnt matter if the Conservatives go ahead and put it to the House during tomorrows debate (although for obvious reasons, one cant help but hope that they do).

In one fell swoop, the Tories havemanaged to come up with what may be the most passive aggressive Opposition Day motion in recent parliamentary history, which appears (twice, for some reason) on todays Notice Paper, courtesy of House Leader (and former speaker) Andrew Scheer and finance critic Lisa Raitt:

That the House: (a) thank the independent non-partisan officials from the Department of Finance for their hard work and evidence-based analysis; (b) acknowledge their most recent Fiscal Monitor which informed Members and Canadians that, for the period from April to November 2015 of the 20152016 fiscal year, the previous government posted a budgetary surplus of $1.0 billion; and (c) concur in its conclusions and express its confidence in the Deputy Minister and his team.

How, one wonders, could the Liberals possibly vote against such a heartfelt paean to those tireless pennycounters toiling in the bowels of the finance department let alone an explicit expression of confidence in the deputy minister?

Yet if they support it, they will implicitly conceding a point that the Conservatives have been relentlessly attempting to drive home in recent days: namely, that when their party handed over the keys to the coffers, there was a billion dollar surplus that the new occupants seem distinctly reluctant to acknowledge.

That particular squabble has been raging in Question Period in recent days, with the Conservatives citing a December 2015 report from the department that they claim backs up their case. The Liberals, however, have consistently maintained that it was the outgoing government that left the country in the red.

We should find out whether the Tories will call that bluff later today, or choose to let the government off comparatively easy by choosing one of the other motions on notice for today, which includes an impassioned defence of the (likely soon to be mothballed) Office of Religious Freedom, as well an evergreen plea for an end to internal trade barriers.

But even if they dont use it tomorrow, it will live forever on the Order Paper, a shining example of the genre, and an inspiration for opposition strategists.

See more here:
Kady O'Malley: Tories go passive aggressive to pressure ...