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Comments

Written by SmokyMark
60 days ago

I submit that THIS is the real reason for prorogation at this time. Mr. Harper feels he can push on with government by decree/Order in Council/bureaucracy administration, and sidestep the messy 'noise from Parliament', an institution whose value he does not understand.

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Written by Lawtalkinggguy
46 days ago

Come on Ardvark! Comparing absolute number ignores TIME GOVERNED: JC at more than 10 years and harper at less than 4 means JC has worked hardest.

It also ignores the TIME PROROGUED: Harper's 2 total more days prorogued than JC's 4, and in way less than half the time.

Finally, it ignores the REASON for the proroguation: JC, for it's purpose - to allow an election or leadership race. Harper, for no legitimate government purpose - avoiding a non-confidence vote, then avoiding scrutiny of parliamentary committees.

When you compare apples to apples, it is obvious that Harper is abusing the system for selfish benefit and to the detriment of all Canadians and even his own government's agenda. He should be ashamed, and you should be too.

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Written by SmokyMark
60 days ago
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Your statistics are misleading, as most stats are...

Here's another view:

In the past 25 years (1984-2009), there have been 18 prorogations through 8 Parliaments. The shortest session on record in that period is 2 weeks (Harper, 2008), while the longest at 28 months belongs to Brian Mulroney. Harper has prorogued twice and ended a parliament once (election Oct 15 2008) in little more than 3 1/2 years in office.

Chretien held office for 10 years, through 3 elections and a transition to a new PM (Paul Martin). Mulroney held office for 8 1/2 years before turning the reins over to Kim Campbell.

Trudeau was PM for 13 years, with both majority and minority governments. He did NOT become PM until April 1968. I have been talking with Rick Anderson on this subject, and we agree that prorogation is generally used to refresh a government agenda when it has come to its end.

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Written by SmokyMark
60 days ago
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My view is that this government still had most of its agenda on the Order Paper, and did not seriously try to complete the agenda. I would, therefore, expect that Harper has deemed the balance of the legislative agenda as not being worth the trouble and will not try to reintroduce it. Otherwise, he has wasted the work of the House for the past year.

Much of that agenda has not seriously been taken up in committee, so he cannot fall back on claims of "Opposition obstructionism".

To quote a recent news story; “John Mason, president of the Scarborough-Guildwood federal Conservative association, said the government just wants to concentrate on its Economic Action Plan and budget ‘without all this noise from Parliament.’” (Scarborough Mirror, January 7, 2010)

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