OTTAWA — The Conservative government will ask the governor general to suspend Parliament today, delaying the return of MPs until the beginning of March.
Sources say the government is expected to prevent Parliament coming back on its scheduled return date of Jan. 25 so it can keep the House in recess until after the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Dimitri Soudas, press secretary to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, would not confirm or deny the story, saying only that “no decision had yet been made” with respect to proroguing Parliament.
Preventing the return of Parliament until after the Olympics would effectively shut down all government committees, which would stop MPs from pursuing the Afghan detainee controversy until Parliament returned.
“If the government attempts this manoeuvre, it’s a shocking insult to democracy,” said Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale. “The government is in a very sticky place with respect to Afghan detainees and they’re running from accountability here — this is a cut and run government.”
A Conservative source also said proroguing Parliament was considered the best way to give the Harper government the upper hand in the Senate.
In early January, there will be five vacancies in the Senate, all of which Harper could fill with Tory loyalists. Even though the new senators would give the Tories majority over the Liberals in the Senate, the Liberals retain their majority on Senate committees until the next general election or until Parliament is prorogued.
Suspending Parliament would allow the Tories to reconstitute Senate committees, making it much easier for them to pass legislation unchanged.
“I think it’s outrageous,” said NDP House Leader Libby Davies. “There’s no legitimate reason for Parliament to be prorogued.
“This is another political scam he’s pulling to suit his own political agenda instead of representing the public interest by making Parliament work.”
[Source]
Updates:
12:32 pm EST, December 30th, 2009 — The Short Parliament
12:52 pm EST, December 30th, 2009 — Main Reasons for Prorogation
1:46 pm EST, December 30th, 2009 — Parliament shut down until March
4:36 pm EST, December 30th, 2009 — “Lefties nuked!”
6:20 pm EST, December 30th, 2009 — Ivison loses it
Notes:
This is the big story in Canada today. For foreign visitors who don’t understand our political system Harper today moved to change a choke hold “lefties” have held over this country for decades (the Senate). They will scream and they will rant in the years ahead but it won’t do them a damned bit of good.
The simple truth is that today Harper took away their toy and is about to return it to it’s rightful owners, the people they represent. Trudeau’s hold on this nation is about to be broken and it’s well past time.
For Canadians — have a very happy New Year because it’s going to be a hoot and you truly have something to celebrate this year.
Time to ask the 5 W questions. Who, what, when, where and why, did these rumors start.
They have been floating around for a few weeks. Do the liberals want this to happen because they have run out of scandal of the week. Are they preparing for another coup, their last attempt doesn’t expire till 2012.
Who will visit the GG first, the coalition leaders requesting she say no to the PM if he requests a recess and yes to them.
And what does the PM know about the coalition plans. Could this be an attempt to make them show their hands.
Are there reporters and cameras staking out the GG’s residence to see what happens.
And what if the PM is just invited for tea.
CBC reports it is a done deal, House to reconvene on Mar 3, with new speech from the throne and budget.
GG agreed.
It has been reported elsewhere that this step is usually taken a couple of days before the House is to reconvene, not during a recess.
Were the coup planners prepared to ask to form the govt, and appearing at the GGs a day or so before recess ended. PMSH has caught them off guard.
Coyne is getting a lot of comments on his blog, most of them anti PMSH.
Pingback: Main Reasons for Prorogation « Red Ensign
Already the cbc is saying that all those bills will now die. Hey, how long have those bills been before the senate, and they refused to act on them. We will probably have constitutional experts (that no one has ever heard of before) flooding the politic shows.
I think a lot of blame will be placed on the liberal senate for not passing bills. Come Jan 3 we will have the majority and committees will be be reconstituted so we will be the majority on them.
Iffy should have seen this coming and told his senators to grow up or lose their seniority.
This situation is hilarious. The “left” going ballistic and Harper hasn’t opened his mouth.
The really good thing that comes out of this is no “QP” for two months.
“Walk quietly and carry a big stick” comes to mind.
Once again the PM has used the tools of his office to control the political agenda. This is good news for the Libs who are desperate to push the reset button. Iffy should be happy. Now he can better prepare for his conference of elitists in Montreal in March.
Harper will appoint 5 Senators in January and gain control of the Senate at long last. Watch for Senate terms to be reduced to 8 years folks.
The budget will come forward in March and the Libs will have to abstain or support it or they will be into an election. With Iffy’s leadership ratings being where they are that would be suicide.
So the boo birds will yell lack of democracy etc it is pure hypocrisy. This procedure has been used by all PMs including Jean Chretien.
The detainee issue can be restarted again because nothing will have changed. However, the opposition knows memories are short and the media tends to move on when there is nothing new to report. Sorry for you luck.
35th Parliament – Liberal (Chretien) – 2 Sessions
36th Parliament – Liberal (Chretien) – 2 Sessions
37th Parliament – Liberal (Chretien/Martin) – 3 Sessions
38th Parliament – Liberal (Martin) – 1 Session
39th Parliament – Conservative (Harper) – 2 Sessions
40th Parliament – Conservative (Harper – 2 Sessions (to date)
h/t http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Canadian_federal_parliaments
Two, three Sessions – so what’s the big deal?
The big deal is that, if prorogued until March then recalled, the Conservatives will (likely) have more Senators than the Liberals which will change the Senate Committee leadership dynamics from the current (and very long standing) status.
So sad, too bad
heh heh
stephen p
The Opposition feigning, outright lies repeated ad nauseum in the HOC is an utter WASTE OF TIME. Time that can be focused on budgets, commercial ideas and enterprises, matters of law and order. No one needs the aggravation of the Liberal theatrics and that only right now, as they go for the power g rab not any thinking Canadian will ever afford them for a decade again.
Whatever the oppo comes back with will be a repeat of that which does not matter because they make no sense whatsoever. You know, they know it and the regular public know it.
What we do know is that the standing gov’t of Canada will carry on its daily work as it has done for roughly four years now. And the Senate is gaining a balance now that will only mean more workable programs issue.
Just ask yourselves, WHY is Canada right now almost singularly blessed??
“Look to the North from whence cometh thy help.” (don’t remember the quote source, sorry)
While we’re at it with letting Jack carry, let’s make him a Senator too.
Senator Jack should probably check his heat before going into the Chamber, otherwise the insanity going on in there would be too tempting to do a High Noon déjà vu.
Nom, hahahahaha LOL. If only Jack and more like him could be cloned, but as he explained puttin in 40 plus years is more than even
a Hercules could handle. don’t know what happened have to resubmit.
Uh, the Liberals wouldn’t do this either? What planet do they live on? They are just P8ssed that Harper is doing to them what they would do to anyone else, were the shoe on the other foot! Heh! It looks very good on them. HAHAHAHAHAH! These guys are losers in the “office politics” department. That’s why they gravitated to MP’s. Easy money. Now they have to compete with Gold medal competition for the next few weeks, to gain any headline coverage.
Enjoy the Olympics. Watch the lefties head’s explode, while they fight amongst themselves on who get’s to lead the “62 Percenters” in some nefarious “coup”! Watch them try to embarras the country on the international stage as they did at COP-15.
Bunch of primadonnas. Losers. Think of what they have to do now to regain the inititative. Desperate acts. I never thought I’d live to see a “self-nailed coffin”.
Could you handle 8 years of yelling & bellyaching, Jack?
Re: #13 — “Could you handle 8 years of yelling & bellyaching, Jack?”
Not my problem — it’s theirs. I just change the channel.
Heh…
Note: If people are wondering why I am absent these days I am reading Hillier’s book which I got at Xmas. I know some of these people he mentions and I’m just getting to the good parts now.
I recommend it (the link is in the sidebar).
I dunno… Senator Jack has a decent ring to it…
I laid some heavy Hillier hints before Christmas but no-one bit. A trip to Chapters is in order.
Re Ivanson losing it. The first paragraph, and words, are what Goodale said when contacted in Arizona by the cbc.
Still no announcement from the PM.
The looney left has nothing to complain about as it was only recently they tried to take control of the country through their failed efforts with the unpoopular/undemocratic ‘Coalition of Separatists.’
Its just been announced on the 6.30 pm CTV news that four Canadian soldiers plus a Canadian journalist may have been killed in Afghanistan. My condolences to the families. RIP!
Poor Bennett will have to practice her theatrics somewhere else, iffy will not bore us with his scowls, no outrages from Goodale. Hey, how much better can things get without QP for a couple of months. Anyone know how many body bags were needed on the reserves for H1N1 victims.
Apparently the PM issued a statement but still no tv coverage of it.
I’m still trying to figure out why Parliament sits as long as it does. I liked Ralf Klein’s one month a year seating of the Legislature. If Parliament were to sit every six months for a month at a time I think we would be better served. With this much time on their hands politicians simply make themselves resemble a bunch of kids on the playground without adult supervision.
Well Joe, parliament lasts as long as it does because the liberals, guided by the Socialist Heathen Infinite Taxation (S.H.I.T) league determines that the best way to soothe Joe and the motoring public into complacency so they get used to whatever sinister direction the Liberals take. This same league also introduced public Firefighters and banned the ownership of Sherman Tanks to defend against titanium-shelled robots as a means to take away your freedom. You should start your own tea party to fight this tyranny.
Or else Haliburton pays them all off. To get the oil from Alberta you realize.
“If the government attempts this manoeuvre, it’s a shocking insult to democracy,” said Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale.
Fewer and fewer Canadians care what this puffed up self important ‘3 dressed up like a 9′ has to say about anything anymore.
I dont think many Canadians pay much attention to what goes on at Parliament any more. ‘Their all the same” seems to be the average Canadians response and they may be right, flip-flops, deficits, patronage appointments, Quebec favortism etc.
Its even worse here in Ontario with less than 50% of registered voters showing up to exercise their right during the last provincial election . Thanks in part to John Tory and his funding of ‘religious schools’ disaster policy.
The one thing that politicians, and it seems a sizable number of the party faithful, share is hypocrisy.
Let the “but, but, it’s not the same thing” begin.
Heres a sampling of some reactions to HM PM Harper’s decision:
‘Has Canada become a banna republic?
http://www.makephpbb.com/madhunt/viewtopic.php?t=127&mforum=madhunt
Poll at CTV:http://www.ctv.ca/news/
Do you agree with the prime minister’s request to prorogue Parliament?
Yes, I’m tired of all the dissent on Parliament Hill: 930 votes ( 44% )
No, MPs still have work to do: 1166 votes (56% )
Today around 10:00 a.m.
I’m of two minds about the proroguing of Parliament as it can be spun to say that the Prime Minister is abusing the system, although it’s a very different situation than proroguing to avoid a confidence vote, it’s a normal Parliamentary procedure used by previous Government for all sorts of reasons.
On the other hand getting control of committees in the Senate is really worth it: How about having a real investigation of the Liberal management of the Gun registry software contracts ?
I’m sure that until now this wasn’t a possibility with the Liberals and opposition blocking any real inquiries on what is probably a much bigger scandal than ADSCAM i.e. ADSCAM on steroid !
RE: #25 , “ The one thing that politicians, and it seems a sizable number of the party faithful, share is hypocrisy.”
Same thing, but do you really expect any Government or Opposition Party to NOT use all the available tools in the Parliamentary Toolbox to their advantage when they can, or expect party faitfull to not whine when things are not going their way or chear when it does go their way ?
If we where in opposition and the rôles where reversed we would be using the opposing arguments: It’s ” POLITICS “, so what, don’t you think the Liberals wouldn’t be stacking the Senate or proroguing if they where in power and it was to their advantage ?
” Not fair , not fair you are using the rules to your advantage “, screams the opposition since they want you to be honourably out of power …… LOL. ( Irony/mild sarcasm ).
Jean – I thought, like so many other Canadians that the Tories would provide something better and be more open than the lieberals had done in the past?
So I guess its true when Canadians say “Their all the same.”
@Jean: I actually expect nothing but political hypocrisy from either the politicians or the party faithful Jean. If the CPoC has shown Canadians anything during their term it is that there really is no difference in the party political mindset – achieve power and hold on to that power at all costs.
Harper was outraged when the Liberals prorogued parliament over the sponsorship scandal investigations and then turns around and does the same thing to prevent other processes negative to his party and his government.
The LPoC made campaign promises, got elected, and broke promises – the CPoC made campaign promises, got elected, and broke promises; and in each case the the other parties and their faithful cried “liar, liar, pants on fire” and the party in power and their faithful cried “but, but, it’s not the same thing, look what the other guys did“.
It’s a joke
@Undecided Voter: In other words, you, like so many other Canadians were duped – again.
And Canadians will be duped in the next election, and the one after that, and the one after that, regardless of who wins. People like Harper and Iggly absolutely depend on Canadians being satisfied and happy that their party is in power, and parroting the party talking points whatever they may be, instead of demanding that the same old same old come to a halt.
– and as long as Canadians are happy being good little party pawns that will continue.
RE 29: I guess it depends on how ideologically pure one expects any Political Party can remain to achieve power or retain power. I think one can still keep in mind what one would like to do compatible with one’s ideals and still be realistic enough to know that politics is not and has never been a ” clean game ” and the ” gamesmanship ” of the thing is unavoidable as long as human nature stays the same.
I guess there is a point where compromises become too distant from the original ideals one is supporting that they exceed what one can swallow: At some point if one’s Party ends up having policies identical to the Parties one opposes then there is no point in continuing supporting it and one has to start all over again with a new Party but accept being out of power for a long long time ! Naturally being in power may be the only interest of the professional career Politicians but many of the party members are more interested in what is done with the power than in the power for it’s own sake ! ( or non Party members that support the ideas and vote for the Party ).
Oh, political Parties or movements all start out idealistic, become realistic with power and eventually become corrupt and lazy if in power for too long and need to be replaced by newer parties: One hopes that in the middle some of the original idealism remains when there is simultaneously enough power to get some things done before tipping over into being an old tired and corrupt party !
Funny how the expected standards of ” purity ” are set so high for a conservative party by people who would never support a conservative party ???
@Jean: Funny how the expected standards of ” purity ” are set so high for a conservative party by people who would never support a conservative party ???
Indeed, I’ve seen a number of Liberal sites where the authors and their readership are up in arms over Harpers latest decision to prorogue parliament but seem to have forgotten that their guy did the same thing for the same reasons…… but that, coupled with the CPoC faithful defending Harper now when (and who has any doubt) they were just as outraged as he said he was back in 2003, simply proves that all parties, and the majority of their vocal base, are equally hypocritical.
I suspect the decision to prorogue parliament has less to do with the Liberal and NDP efforts to sustain their latest manufactured crisis and more to do with the Prime Minister wanting to enjoy the Olympics without having to worry about the opposition making asses of themselves for the international press who’ll be visiting.
#31 – Duped – Possibly as I had high hopes for the CONservatives but destroyed my ballot during the last election, having some doubts and will probably do so again. I think for the present time will stay with the ‘Undecided (unofficial) Party.’
Canada – just another Banana Republic?
We can’t truly be a banana republic without significantly more global warming.
Well, if all those grass chewing cows keep farting, we will soon be growing banana’s here in tropical Canada.
We should pitch the whole bunch out on the street, ban them from running for any office for 98 years and hold a new election June1, 2010. It couldn’t make things any worse and there’s a chance we’d probably get better people to vote for.
#35, thank you for voting for PMSH with your spoiled ballot. If you have a conservative MP, you are voting for that person by denying a vote against him/her. If you have an MP from any of the opposition, you are voting for the conservative by not casting a vote against him/her.
Your missing the point Mary, by destroying ones ballet hopefully sends a message of displeasure with ‘all of the above.’
At least its better than not voting as many Canadians do. Some even suggest making it mandatory to vote (more destroyed ballets) but thats a topic for another time.
In my humble opinion I would venture to say that the “game” has changed as of Jan. 3rd/2010 when control of the Senate changes hands.
One only needs to realize that the cancer that has affected Canada for many years was in fact ‘progressively malignant’ and as such needed/needs to be carefully excorcised before the country Canada becomes the cadaver Canada.
This has not been an easy task…something on the lines of weaning and house breaking a litter of dependant puppies, squirming to stay on the teat and irresponsibly fouling their nest.
We are now reaching the point of being able to implement some of these political/social changes/policies that many conservative supporters have held dear for years now.
True compromise is always a factor in sucessful negotiation…as is growth thru commitment.
My gut thoughts at this time is to continue in my support of PMSH and his CPC team and to see this journey to a better Canada thru to hopeful fruition.
As time progresses and Canadians become more comfortable and confident within themselves and their new, more responsible identity I can see them embracing change and hopefully voting in a CPC majority.
At and only at that time will I truly hold Mr Harper’s feet to the flames of scrutiny.
And ’till such time will avoid unnecessary criticism as I believe it will only weaken the cause.
One cannot sit back and criticize the Opposition for attacking our soldiers and gov’t over the Afghan detainee non-issue ,with all the reasons we do ,and then proceed to do pretty much the same thing to our own people whom we have cast a vote for …its hypocritical!
We are fighting a war here in Canada…its for the preservation of our country and a responsible way of living.In doubt?…just imagine for a moment where we common Canadians would be right now if the coalition of unspeakables had subverted power last year and had dealt with the recession and heaven forbid, the Copenhagen Summit.
My final thought is to concede Mr Harper the reins and let him continue on the path he is on.He seems to be doing a competent job of navigating Canada on the world stage and thru the Opposition terrorist laid minefields. (tho’ I have to say that those folks are pretty slow)
We should save the serious criticism for the future when a Conservative majority leads the country…and hopefully a responsible Opposition keeps them sharp.