One senator who ended up on the same side sided as the opposition was Elena Smith. While the labour senator made it clear that she wanted to express her opinion without any suggestion that she was politically inclined, she noted that when she first heard the motion, she immediately believed it was done for the benefit of the Ashcroft Alliance.
She said that there are more urgent matters on the table that need to be addressed by government:
Hon. Elena Smith - Labour Senator "One of the first things that we thought is that, wow thing is about Mr. Ashcroft, it has to be about him, it can't be about anybody else and I think that is the sentiment that has been placed out there by many persons. Today were are here in the contrary, still remains the sentiment. We also thought about why now, why is this urgent and yet we got some response for that but madam president we are aware that such a notion would have far reaching effects and so felt that something as important as this, that requires so much research, so much preparation that more time would have been good for us to go through and be able to present in a way would aid in making this notion better, if it could be made better. I remember I said I am not any legal person, so I'm just sharing with you all, what was shared with me and as my colleague Senator Salazar said, we're not here to fight with anybody, we are here to seek clarity, we are here to get a better understanding from those who know more than we do and so we thought that we could have done with more time, that would have been appreciated but the NTUCB wishes for me to place on record that the same manner in which this notion was brought before us today, with that same urgency that it was treated with, that the government must also treat with similar urgency the matter of UNCAC, the matters of ILO convention such as convention 58 and other labour matters that affect our working population. Good governance that we recently passed in the senate. We say that madam president to note that while the notion before is maybe urgent as Senator Courtenay explained, the matter of the negotiations currently going on, we also recognize that as a member in this chamber, we too have urgent matters that we believe should be addressed and addressed urgently."
