Harper might have an argument on the 2005 deals.
On the 1985 one?
Pretty much black letter.
Under s. 60 of the 1985 memorandum of understanding neither party can change the enabling legislation without mutual consent.
The Harperites might try a legal argument based on some provisions of the constitution, but that's just a possibility.
The Prime Minister would have to send the thing to court first. Of course, there's nothing to stop the provincial government from sending the thing to the courts either.
Somewhere along the line someone must have surely uttered the words "constitutional crisis the likes of which we haven't seen in this country for decades".
That's basically what the Prime Minister is threatening, and all because he made a terribly poor political judgment.
-srbp-
