Going Prorogue

spoobnooble — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:35:44 -0800

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper wants to prorogue Parliament. AGAIN. Last year Stephen Harper convinced Governor General Michaëlle Jean to have Canada's House of Parliament prorogued, i.e. suspended for a five-week period. Facing a coalition of Liberals, NDP and Bloc Quebecois MPs prepared to vote out his minority Conservative Party (spurred in part by a Conservative bill that would take away the public funds parties receive for election purposes), Harper was able to stave off a vote of non-confidence, though not without some ducking and weaving. While some commentators stated that the proroguement set a bad precedent, the suspension of operations in the House of Commons went as planned, and the opposition coalition fell apart. Now at the tail-end of 2009, Harper wants to prorogue Parliament until March 2010, so that he and other government leaders can work on the next phase of its economic action plan (and patriotic Canucks can support their athletes in the 2010 Winter Olympics). Others have suggested it is a brazen move to avoid questioning over the ongoing calls for investigations into the torture of Afghan detainees. Representatives of the minority government insist that the accusations are false. Other commentaries: The Olympics, Prorogue and the Moral Vacuity of the Conservative Party Harper's holiday to-do list Prorogue? Sure, why not?

The greatest histories are always written in the toughest times

saucysault — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 09:43:55 -0800

Je ne comprends pas anglais, Former Canadian PM Jean Chrétien forgets his second language as he and former NDP leader Ed Broadbent use their elder statesmen status to discuss bringing down the six week old Conservative government in Canada after the promised economic stimulus turned into cutting travel expenses, cancelling pay equity and the right to strike for federal workers, and changing the party funding law in favour of the ruling Conservatives under PM Stephen Harper. The opposition still vow to topple the government even though the funding change appears to have been dropped. But the largest opposition party is effectively leaderless and they need the Bloc Quebecois support. Could the next Prime Minister of Canada be Gilles Duceppe?

MetaFilter posts tagged with prorogue

Going Prorogue

The greatest histories are always written in the toughest times