The Prorogation of Parliament by the Coward Stephen Harper
By Grace
This morning, Prime Minister Stephen Harper met with Governor General Michaëlle Jean to ask for a prorogation of Parliament. It was granted.
As I said in a previous post, this is the most selfish and cowardly option that Harper could have pursued. Rather than face the impending confidence motion, he's delaying it by suspending all Parliamentary business. In the face of an economic recession, when swift action is needed and there's work to be done, he's ground everything to a halt -- all for the sake of staying in power.
What he's also done is alienate Quebec voters. Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe called Harper's attacks on his party the "worst attacks against Quebecers since the Meech Lake Accord" by repeatedly using the term "separatists" (the majority of Quebec's federal seats were won by the BQ).
The New Democratic Party has vowed to oust Harper at the next possible opportunity. Will the coalition still hold together when the House sits again? It's possible. Anything can happen in a month and a half; as with the last week, the electorate will have to wait and see. If the House falls immediately, we may go to another election -- and see another two months of non-activity in government.
In the meantime, Canadians can probably expect to be bombarded with more Conservative anti-coalition and anti-Liberal ads over the next month to dissuade voters from accepting a Tory alternative. More scaremongering. More divisive rhetoric. Happy holidays, brought to you by the Conservative Party of Canada.
Despite all the talk about the opposition parties doing something "undemocratic" (which was untrue to begin with), Harper has done something even more so by disallowing elected Members of Parliament from governing the country for the next seven weeks. It's outright hypocrisy, but, after so many years, I suppose it's just his style.
Am I furious? Absolutely.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's title may include "Right" and "Honourable," but today he's proven that he's neither.
This morning, Prime Minister Stephen Harper met with Governor General Michaëlle Jean to ask for a prorogation of Parliament. It was granted.
As I said in a previous post, this is the most selfish and cowardly option that Harper could have pursued. Rather than face the impending confidence motion, he's delaying it by suspending all Parliamentary business. In the face of an economic recession, when swift action is needed and there's work to be done, he's ground everything to a halt -- all for the sake of staying in power.
What he's also done is alienate Quebec voters. Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe called Harper's attacks on his party the "worst attacks against Quebecers since the Meech Lake Accord" by repeatedly using the term "separatists" (the majority of Quebec's federal seats were won by the BQ).
The New Democratic Party has vowed to oust Harper at the next possible opportunity. Will the coalition still hold together when the House sits again? It's possible. Anything can happen in a month and a half; as with the last week, the electorate will have to wait and see. If the House falls immediately, we may go to another election -- and see another two months of non-activity in government.
In the meantime, Canadians can probably expect to be bombarded with more Conservative anti-coalition and anti-Liberal ads over the next month to dissuade voters from accepting a Tory alternative. More scaremongering. More divisive rhetoric. Happy holidays, brought to you by the Conservative Party of Canada.
Despite all the talk about the opposition parties doing something "undemocratic" (which was untrue to begin with), Harper has done something even more so by disallowing elected Members of Parliament from governing the country for the next seven weeks. It's outright hypocrisy, but, after so many years, I suppose it's just his style.
Am I furious? Absolutely.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's title may include "Right" and "Honourable," but today he's proven that he's neither.
Labels: Canada, Stephen Harper
posted by Grace at
2:00 PM
6 Comments:
I couldn't disagree with you more.
Stephen Harper is a strong leader and stood his ground. The coalition is a joke and would have only created instability.
By
Anonymous, at 6:11 PM
Monty, you're completely out to lunch. The basis of the coalition is an agreement that would see the majority of our elected MPs agree to work together. The cooperation fostered by the coalition would lead to stability. What has created instability is Harper's attacks on women, unionised workers, and the financing of the other parties, while pushing a financial plan that even the conservative financial advisers claim does nothing to help the economy, and would likely make matters worse.
By
Anonymous, at 6:59 PM
I like your point that suspending parliament is in a way antidemocratic. I thought the most glaring contradiction was Harper repeatedly calling the coalition undemocratic when the cause of the whole crisis was his trying to bankrupt all of the other parties.
By
Anonymous, at 10:41 PM
Isn't this just delaying the inevitable?
www.procrastinationmaterial.blogspot.com
By
Anonymous, at 11:54 PM
Valuable resource of canadian parliament news summaries: http://www.ng2000.com/blog/2008/12/05/canadian-parliament/
By
ng2000, at 12:41 AM
I'd like to Post a Comment The recession really isn't that bad if you know where to look. The bailout money is spilling over to us believe it or not. I've done research and found that there is more money than what you think...
Bailout Spillover
By
Anonymous, at 1:59 AM
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