For the third time in three years, Canadian prime Minister Stephen Harper requests to prorogue parliament.

 

http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2009/12/30/parliament-prorogation-harper.html

 

The Conservative government plans to shut down Parliament for two months, until after the Vancouver Winter Olympics, the Prime Minister's Office announced Wednesday.

 

The announcement triggered immediate condemnation from opposition MPs who labelled the Conservative government's move an "almost despotic" attempt to muzzle parliamentarians amid controversy over the Afghan detainees affair.

 

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's spokesman, Dimitri Soudas, said the government sought the suspension to consult with Canadians, stakeholders and businesses as it moves into the "next phase" of its economic action plan amid signs of economic recovery.

 

"This is quite routine but it is also important to give Canadians an overview of where we will be taking the country over the next little while," Soudas told CBC News from Ottawa.

 

P.O.V.: Is proroguing Parliament a necessary move or undemocratic?

He said a speech from the throne will be delivered March 3, followed by presentation of the budget the next day. The session had been scheduled to resume Jan. 25 after the holiday break.

 

Soudas said the prime minister spoke with Gov. Gen Michaëlle Jean over the phone earlier Wednesday. But Soudas said he was not allowed to discuss a "private conversation" between the prime minister and the Governor General and would not confirm whether Jean had approved Harper's request for the prorogation.

 

Rideau Hall has yet to comment on the announcement from the Prime Minister's Office.

 

The move to prorogue, or suspend, Parliament is widely seen as a strategic move by Harper to gain a majority on Senate committees while possibly also avoiding criticism over the Afghan detainee issue.

 

Proroguing 'a tradition' for PM: Duceppe

 

PMO spokesman Dimitri Soudas gives an interview with CBC News in Ottawa on Wednesday. (CBC)Opposition parties have already warned that prorogation would disrupt the inquiry of a parliamentary committee looking into accusations that the government ignored warnings about the torture of Afghan detainees. Strategically, prorogation also prevents question period criticisms from the opposition parties during the Olympics.

 

Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale called the government's move "beyond arrogant" and its justifications for it "a joke."

 

"It's almost despotic, Goodale told CBC News in an interview from Phoenix, Ariz.

 

Three times in three years and twice within one year, the prime minister takes this extraordinary step to muzzle Parliament. This time its a coverup of what the Conservatives knew, and when they knew it, about torture in Afghanistan. So their solution is not to answer the questions but, rather, to padlock Parliament and shut down democracy.

 

NDP House Leader Libby Davies said she was "appalled" by Harper's decision and accused the prime minister of "running from" opposition demands for a public inquiry into what and when the government knew about allegations of torture of detainees transferred into Afghan custody by Canadian soldiers in 2006.

 

"By proroguing Parliament, he is unilaterally making a decision to stop any kind of disclosure from happening," Davies told CBC News from Vancouver.

 

On his Twitter account, Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe wrote that prorogation has become "a tradition for Harper."

 

"Instead of facing the music, he prorogues," Duceppe wrote.

 

Before Wednesday's announcement, NDP House leader Libby Davies said there's no legitimate reason to prorogue Parliament and to do so would be a "political scam."

 

Soudas hit back at Goodale's accusations, saying the opposition parties have been "unable to prove any wrongdoing on the part of our military, on the part of our diplomats, on the part of the Canadian Forces."

 

"If the opposition wants to spend 2010 talking about Taliban terrorists, we'll let them do that. We're going to be focusing on the economy."

 

Harper to fill Senate seats by March

 

By the time Parliament resumes, Harper would have had time to ask Jean to name five new senators, which would give the Conservatives a majority on the newly formed Senate committees and greater control for passing their own legislation.

 

Soudas confirmed the prime minister will seek to fill the Senate vacancies between now and March, while the Tories will also push forward on Senate reform, including ending the appointment process in favour of elected senators.

 

Prorogation also effectively scuttles all bills before the current Parliament, including the government's vaunted anti-crime legislation, which the Conservatives had accused opposition parties of trying to stall. But private member's bills, such as Manitoba Tory backbencher Candice Hoeppner's bill to scrap the decade-old federal long-gun registry, would not be affected.

 

Shortly after Soudas' announcement, the government sent out an email saying it would reintroduce, in original form, the consumer safety bill and the anti-drug-crime law that the Tories claimed the Liberals "gutted" in the Senate.

 

Harper successfully appealed to Jean to prorogue Parliament last December, thwarting all three opposition parties in their attempt to defeat his government in a no-confidence vote and replace it with a proposed coalition between then Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion's party and the NDP, with support from the Bloc Québécois.

 

After Jean granted Harper's request, the proposed coalition collapsed and Dion was replaced by current Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, who gave his party's conditional support to the Conservatives' budget last January.

 

Short form for non-canadians:

 

Canadian prime minister is trying to cancel parliament for 2 months. This would be the third time he's done it in less than 3 years. Its somewhat unusual and not warranted. Basically it would have the effect of cancelling a hearing into allegations that the government knew afghan detainees were being tortured. Obviously it doesn't reflect very nicely on his party to have to deal with the flak from that so he's trying to avoid it. I think its really low, that would mean parliament would barely run for 8 months of the year, what with summer break.

 

I wanted opinions on this. I'm more conservative than anything, but I find this disgusting. He's basically attempting to avoid the controversy without any good reason, and it's almost enough to make me vote for the liberals.

It's all going as planned.

I think he'd be better off facing the allegations in front of everyone despite the Olympics rather than having the world hear about the parliament being shut down amidst debate over torture. It's twice as bad.

Harper is quite the pathetic prime minister, I must say.

Harper is quite the pathetic prime minister, I must say.

I don't know if I'd call him pathetic, but very clever. To have gotten through what he has over the past 3 years and still be going up in the polls is quite impressive. He's a shrewd manipulator and an excellent politician. However, many of his methods (such as this one) leave a lot to be desired.

Harper is quite the pathetic prime minister, I must say.

Lol, I like him better than the other possible PMs.

 

.... yes i voted conservative

Never wanted Harper as prime minister, but the problem here is people voted against liberal, not for conservative because of the scandal, and then Harper started manipulating people more than ever.

I like Harper a lot more than any of the last three PM's we've had. He spent a lot of his time a junior politician learning how to work the system and get things done, much to the chagrin of his political opponents. The decision to prorogue Parliament is just another calculated move on his part to further his agenda while presiding over a minority government. Personally, I'm glad that he will be filling the vacant Senate seats with Conservatives. The Senate has been controlled by the Liberals for decades (mainly because Senate appointments are for life). As for the detainee situation, proroguing Parliament does mean that he will most likely avoid having to deal with it directly, but also allow him to avoid a potential vote of non-confidence which, if Liberals and PQ (and possibly NDP) joined forces, he might lose which would cause the dissolution of Parliament and yet another vote (it's been less than 2 years since the last one...).

 

The problem isn't that Harper is trying to avoid dealing with the torture allegations, it's that so many people within Parliament are more concerned with getting in to power than ensuring our government works properly. Which, by the way, was the reason he called the last election early despite his own promise not to. A minority government is operating from a position of weakened power to begin with and Harper has done an excellent job so far of working the system to his advantage allowing him to get things done despite the best efforts of his opponents.

 

Also, the CBC, a publicly funded and run news agency, is notorious for reporting political stories from a blatantly Liberal slant, so I'm quite sure that the whole story has not been presented.

I like Harper a lot more than any of the last three PM's we've had. He spent a lot of his time a junior politician learning how to work the system and get things done, much to the chagrin of his political opponents. The decision to prorogue Parliament is just another calculated move on his part to further his agenda while presiding over a minority government. Personally, I'm glad that he will be filling the vacant Senate seats with Conservatives. The Senate has been controlled by the Liberals for decades (mainly because Senate appointments are for life). As for the detainee situation, proroguing Parliament does mean that he will most likely avoid having to deal with it directly, but also allow him to avoid a potential vote of non-confidence which, if Liberals and PQ (and possibly NDP) joined forces, he might lose which would cause the dissolution of Parliament and yet another vote (it's been less than 2 years since the last one...).

I also like harper more than the others. He's a very skilled tactician and definitely this is a calculated move designed to futher the life of his government. What I'm trying to say is that despite the difficulties he may face, I can put up with his manipulating as long as it seems reasonable. Simply pro-roguing parliament for no reason isn't reasonable at all.

 

The problem isn't that Harper is trying to avoid dealing with the torture allegations, it's that so many people within Parliament are more concerned with getting in to power than ensuring our government works properly. Which, by the way, was the reason he called the last election early despite his own promise not to. A minority government is operating from a position of weakened power to begin with and Harper has done an excellent job so far of working the system to his advantage allowing him to get things done despite the best efforts of his opponents.

 

My point is this prorogation(sp?) request wil end up with nothing being done. It's 2 months of no parliament - that seems to me to be a departure from his previous attempts to maneuver but still get things done.

 

Also, the CBC, a publicly funded and run news agency, is notorious for reporting political stories from a blatantly Liberal slant, so I'm quite sure that the whole story has not been presented.

 

Agree completely. I don't know why we allow millions of our tax dollars to be funneled into that garbage.

Sounds like a crap prime-minister.

i live and work on the mountainside of whistler blackcomb, the twin peaks near vancouver, yet funnily enough, as a young person, even though i don't have a vote (1 year left till i can apply for citizenship) the conservative party here appeals to me most, and as to his methods, well politics is a dirty game, just be thankful that we've progressed beyond the 1800's when assassination was still a part of politics at the top level.

I wish we still had duels though :(

I wish we still had duels though :(

Lolz. Can you imagine Stephen Harper and Michael Ignatieff on the lawn in front of the Peace Tower? :lol: It would certainly make politics more interesting.

I wish we still had duels though :(

Lolz. Can you imagine Stephen Harper and Michael Ignatieff on the lawn in front of the Peace Tower? :lol: It would certainly make politics more interesting.

I'd much rather see Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe go at it with broadswords.

I don't give a [cabbage] what they do as long as it doesn't affect me.

I wish we still had duels though :(

Lolz. Can you imagine Stephen Harper and Michael Ignatieff on the lawn in front of the Peace Tower? :lol: It would certainly make politics more interesting.

I'd much rather see Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe go at it with broadswords.

I can see Gilles Duceppe with the broadsword. Jack Layton always looked like more of a musketeer type (moustache).

I don't give a [cabbage] what they do as long as it doesn't affect me.

Um, you do, of course, realize that as our county's government pretty much everything they do affects us in some way or another. Perhaps not immediately or even directly, but it does. That kind of attitude is a big part of why our voter turn out gets lower every election.