Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale takes questions with MP Dominic LeBlanc after initial talks on resolving a dispute over Afghan detainee documents in Ottawa on April 29, 2010.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
A Parliamentary showdown between the Harper government and opposition parties may not be settled by a May 11 deadline set by the House of Commons' top referee.
This could force the parties involved to press Speaker Peter Milliken for more time.
Mr. Milliken had warned the warring factions to reach a consensus on giving MPs access to secret Afghan detainee records by Tuesday.
The risk inherent in missing the deadline was that Mr. Milliken would give the green light for opposition parties to vote the government in contempt of Parliament. That would almost certainly trigger the defeat of the Harper government and an ensuing election.
Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale said today that talks are still going well, but added more time could be required.
He said parties might end up asking the Speaker for a time extension past May 11.
"If we all say to the Speaker that progress is being made [on this]serious topic .... let's take some additional time to deal to make further progress, I suspect the Speaker would respond constructively," Mr. Goodale said.
Parties emerged from a meeting with the governing Tories today saying they're still inching toward a deal that would reflect Mr. Milliken's historic April 26 ruling saying Parliament has an absolute right to demand uncensored copies of all records on detainees.
The Conservatives offered proposals yesterday that the other parties said they're going to think over.