News
Kill Bill(s) - Part 2
Canada without Parliament
Halted in mid-debate
Jan 7th 2010 | OTTAWA
From The Economist print edition
Stephen Harper is counting on Canadians’ complacency as he rewrites the rules of his country’s politics to weaken legislative scrutiny
THE timing said everything. Stephen Harper, the prime minister, chose December 30th, the day five Canadians were killed in Afghanistan and when the public and the media were further distracted by the announcement of the country’s all-important Olympic ice-hockey team, to let his spokesman reveal that Parliament would remain closed until March 3rd, instead of returning as usual, after its Christmas break, in the last week of January.
Mr Harper turned a customary recess into prorogation. This means that all committees in both houses are disbanded and government bills die, no matter how close they are to approval. The prime minister, who heads a Conservative minority government, clearly reckoned that giving legislators an extra winter break, during which they might visit the Winter Olympics (in Vancouver between February 12th and 28th), would not bother Canadians much.
He may have miscalculated. A gathering storm of media criticism has extended even to the Calgary Herald, the main newspaper in his political home city, which denounced him for “a cynical political play”. There are plans for demonstrations on January 23rd, just before Parliament would have reconvened. “Parliamentary democracy is in danger,” declared Peter Russell of the University of Toronto, who was one of 132 political scientists who signed a letter condemning the prorogation and calling for electoral reform... (more)
Parliamentary scrutiny may be tedious, but democracies cannot afford to dispense with it
"The argument that previous prime ministers frequently prorogued Parliament is no more convincing. In almost every case they did so only once the government had got through the bulk of its legislative business. The Parliament that Mr Harper prorogued still had 36 government bills before it, including measures that form part of the prime minister’s much-vaunted crackdown on crime. When it reconvenes, those bills will have to start again from scratch...
Never mind what his spin doctors say: Mr Harper’s move looks like naked self-interest. His officials faced grilling by parliamentary committees over whether they misled the House of Commons in denying knowledge that detainees handed over to the local authorities by Canadian troops in Afghanistan were being tortured. The government would also have come under fire for its lack of policies to curb Canada’s abundant carbon emissions. Prorogation means that such committees—which carry out the essential democratic task of scrutinising government—will have to be formed anew in March. That will also allow Mr Harper to gain immediate control of committees in the appointed Senate, where his Conservatives are poised to become the biggest party.
...he is subjecting Parliament to prime-ministerial whim. He may be right that most Canadians care more about the luge than the legislature, but that is surely true only while their decent system of government is in good hands. They may soon conclude that it isn’t."
- Harper goes prorogue, The Economist editorial, January 7th, 2010 We will go on doing our job of holding the government to account As I hear them, Canadians are saying: get back to work in Ottawa, make this Parliament work and do the job we elected you to do. We are listening. It is time that Stephen Harper did too. "This approach to government – intimidating all who stand in its way – can have severe and corrosive consequences. Look at our nation’s capital today: a cowed and demoralized public service and a constantly bullied national press gallery, both trying to serve a disenchanted public.
The Economist, which has a circulation of about 1.4 million - about half in North America, endorsed Harper in both the 2006 and 2008 elections, but the bloom appears to be off the rose.
- "Influential British magazine slams Harper's suspension of Parliament", Bruce Cheadle for The Canadian Press, January 7th, 2010
The Government’s behaviour speaks to a deep cynicism. Mr. Harper is gambling that the public doesn’t care how it is governed."
- January 5th, 2010 - Leader Michael Ignatieff's op-ed: Shutting down Parliament: the Arrogance of Power
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Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament - Get Back to Work
86,377 Members and growing... Watch for rally details on Saturday, January 23rd, 2010
Let's stand up together and make our voices heard-Parliament should resume on January 25th 2010 with or without Harper!
Specific details for each city to follow soon, we are just coordinating details at the moment with various volunteers across the country. Generally speaking protests in major cities will be held at government legislative buildings, in smaller cities locations will be announced well in advance of the protest.
Calgary, AB
Edmonton, AB
Petitions:
Stop the Prorogue of Canadian Parliament
A Petition to The Governor General of Canada to Reject The Prime Minister's Request to Prorogue Parliament
Ignore the Proroguing of Parliament
Related Stories:
January 7th, 2010 - In Their Own Words: The Harper Conservatives on shutting down Parliament
January 6th, 2010 - Just the Facts: Stephen Harper's CBC Interview
January 5th, 2010 - Just the Facts: Shutting down Parliament, in perspective
January 5th, 2010 - In Their Own Words: Editorial and expert opinion against shutting down Parliament
January 4th, 2010 - Just the Facts: Canada's Parliament during the 1988 Calgary Olympic Games
December 30th, 2009 - Harper's prorogation shuts down Parliament to perpetuate cover-up of Afghan detainee controversy
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