OTTAWA — The role of elected representatives will erode further if the federal government makes good on its suggestion to make prorogation an annual event, experts say.
“It’s not easy to see how this can work,” says David Mitchell, president of the Ottawa-based Public Policy Forum. “It raises the question: Why do we have a Parliament?”
When Prime Minister Stephen Harper suspended parliamentary activity last week until early March, his spokesman called the move “routine,” noting it has occurred 104 times previously.
The announcement was immediately denounced by opposition parties, who accused the Conservatives of undermining democracy and fleeing accountability, especially when it comes to Canada’s treatment of Afghan detainees.
Still, there’s word the Tories may go further to ensure prorogation becomes routine.
Government sources say they are contemplating formally shutting down Parliament at the end of every year, so the government can start afresh with a throne speech and a budget.
That way, the argument goes, the public will have a clear idea what the government plans to achieve for the coming year.
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Notes:
I’m having a huge laugh. Never a dull moment with Harper.
An interesting theory about how Elections Canada might have inadvertently empowered the PMO more than it was before. Funny how these objections come up during a Conservative government but not during a Liberal one, isn’t it?
Another thing to keep in mind is this: if the MPs were truly unhappy with the direction of the PM or the cabinet, they always have the option to vote against them, whipped or not. Imagine if the majority of members of the governing party voted against a motion which was supported by the PM and the cabinet. It would be hard to argue the House hadn’t lost confidence.
And they call PM Harper an unimaginative leader. He’s thinking and innovating every day that the sun shines or in the case of Alberta the cold winter wind blows. I am secretly bemused by his tactics and gave up long ago trying to figure out his stratagems. At this rate the Senate will be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century without provincial consent and the overall function of parliament will be streamlined. “History is past politics, and politics is present history.” E.A. Freeman 1823 – 92. Methods of Historical Study 1886. Cheers.
Quite a remarkable man, no doubt about that. It will be interesting to see just how he will reform the Senate without opening up the Constitution. I don’t know how he’ll do it, but I don’t doubt that he will.
As I’ve read before, it seems at times that the rest of the HOC are playing checkers and he’s playing Chess.
PMs since Trudeau have all shown a remarkable disrespect forParliament. However, only one came from a political party (i.e., Reform) that claimed parliamentary reform was needed to improve our democracy, and that was Harper. Sadly, he has shown with the prorogation — as on so many other issues — that principles are to be cast aside when politically inconvenient.
#4, talk about principals being thrown aside, paid any attention to the media for the past few years. They can’t even count, and lie about how long the PM has recessed the HofC. 21 sitting days is a far cry from 3 months.
#5 – Counting isn’t the only problem one reads about these days. For example, I was not talking about principals, but rather principles — although it was a principal figure in politics whose dedication to principles was the issue I raised. And, given my concerns, I think “throwing aside” a few principals might not be such a bad idea.
But aside from that, I think that the “oh yeah, well, someone else is just as bad” argument that so many of the Harper-ites like to throw around is rather weak.