EXCERPTS:
OTTAWA - It was a request for Canada's politicians to put their differences aside and study the growing issue of income inequality.
In today's Ottawa, it was doomed.
Kings-Hants Liberal MP Scott Brison proposed a motion in the House of Commons on Wednesday for Parliament's finance committee to examine what could be done about income inequality.
A recent Conference Board of Canada study found the gap between rich and poor is growing faster in Canada than in the United States.
"Inequality is growing between Canadian regions as our economy is divided between resource-rich provinces and those without," Brison said.
"Inequality is growing between urban and rural Canada, and it is growing between aboriginal and non-aboriginal Canadians."
Brison delivered a long speech asking all three of Canada's main political parties to support the motion. He did not reference actions or policies of the Conservative government.
"I am not so naive as to believe that a study by the House of Commons finance committee will solve income inequality once and for all, but it will be a start," he said.
Seconds after Brison sat down, the dream of across-the-aisle support was shot down.
"Madam Speaker, one must wonder whether the hypocrisy of the Liberal party really knows no bounds," said Conservative MP Mark Adler (York Centre).
Adler then referenced a former Liberal adviser's remarks from 2005 about how the Conservatives' child-care plan would mean Canadians would waste more money on "beer and popcorn," and he criticized Brison for not supporting Conservative initiatives.
Shortly afterward, Shelly Glover, a Manitoba Conservative MP and secretary to the finance minister, made it clear the government would vote against Brison's motion.
"Not too long ago, (Brison) would have mocked these types of grand but ultimately empty proclamations on income inequality," she said.
The NDP signalled they would support Brison's motion, but with the Conservatives holding a majority of seats in the House of Commons, they can single-handedly kill the study. The motion will be brought up for a vote next month.
-reprinted from the Chronicle Herald