The Commerce Times

Harper’s reset button

March 5, 2010 0 | By Jordan Tamblyn

For the second time in over a year, Stephen Harper has decided to pull the pin on Parliament. The decision has so far been met with loud disapproval- criticism has come down on the Harper government from all sides, including the Liberal opposition and Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament, a grassroots organization which started online.

While Parliament is expected to resume on March 3, the damage has already been done. Relentless polling from the Liberal and NDP parties has shown that the Canadian people remain unimpressed with the prorogation. The situation has also given the opposition parties plenty of ammunition to use against Harper.

“With so many challenges facing Canada – job creation, climate change, the war in Afghanistan – Parliament must be able to do its work,” NDP leader Jack Layton has said to the press. “There’s been a real uprising of Canadians against this notion that you simply shut down Parliament whenever you feel like it as prime minister.”

Prorogation works by ending the parliamentary session. It’s like a giant do-over for the Conservative minority government. All the bills that have been introduced to the committee effectively die and are removed from the legislative agenda. When Parliament returns from the break, the slate is essentially wiped clean.

The controversy comes from what’s been deleted from the agenda. Besides over 30 pieces of lost legislation, the investigation into tortured Afghani detainees is now prohibited from sitting on a Parliamentary committee. Some critics are now pointing to the prorogation as a way for Harper to “cover up” any uncomfortable findings of the Afghani torture probe, as well as silence any dissenting voices against the minority government.

Critics, like NDP MP Paul Dewar, say Conservatives are simply running scared.

“Just having had a prorogued Parliament a year ago, you have to say they’ve run out of not only any ideas, but also the will to face Parliament,” he said in a statement to the press.

Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament, led by blogger and “social media veteran” Colin Carmichael, was recently cheered on by Michael Ignatieff in an open letter.

“I know that your organizers have been volunteering their own time for several weeks to prepare Saturday’s rallies,” Ignatieff said in the letter. “Anyone who pretends that those sacrifices don’t count is highly mistaken.”

Understandably trying to keep the controversy brewing, Ignatieff has also promised that there will be an online question and answer session on Facebook.

In Toronto there was a protest at Dundas Square. For more information, go to www.NoProrogue.ca/toronto.