Angry in the Great White North

The National Post reports on the conspicuous absence of Stephane Dion:

The Liberals walked out of a vote on a motion that urged the Senate to pass an omnibus crime bill by the start of March.

Liberal House leader Ralph Goodale led his caucus out of the chambers which allowed the Conservative motion to pass easily 172-27. The Bloc supported the government while the NDP voted against the motion.

Liberal leader Stephane Dion had criticized the Tory motion, saying that the House of Commons had no business in dictating how the Senate should conduct its business.

That's a pity.  Stephane Dion missed a great opportunity to be seen leading the Liberal Party in a very literal sense.

Why?

Maybe he was worried that pictures him leading the Liberals away from another confidence vote would become part of Conservative election advertising.  He's probably justified in that.

Or maybe it was that the Liberal theatrics were utterly pointless.  The Bloc Quebecois supported the government.  It was going to pass no matter what.  There was no election at stake:

The Tories had pushed the vote after they claimed their crime bill was being held up in the Senate. While the Senate is an independent body, the Tory motion urging them to pass the crime bill would have been a confidence vote and could have led to an election.

But CTV parliamentary correspondent Graham Richardson said there was little doubt that the motion would pass and an election wouldn't be triggered -- even without the Liberal votes.

He told CTV Newsnet that the Bloc Quebecois was likely to vote with the government ensuring the motion's passage. The Tory motion passed 172-27.

So instead of making a point, Stephane Dion has perpetuated the meme of the Liberal Party being allergic to any confidence vote.

Maybe Stephane Dion didn't want to hear any more of Jack Layton's taunts.  I have to say that if that was the excuse for not leading his own caucus today, I'd almost accept that.