Avalon

Prorogation common occurrence

By MICHAEL L. MACDONALD
The Chronicle Herald Thu. Jan 28 – 4:53 AM

I am writing in response to my friend Wilfred Moore’s Jan. 23 opinion article on prorogation.

Parliament’s return on March 3 marks the 105th time since Confederation that prorogation has provided for a throne speech to open a new session. With 105 examples in over 143 years, it’s fair to say it’s a common occurrence. Most Parliaments have two or three sessions, some as many as six or seven.

With only one previous prorogation in almost four years in office (when Prime Minister Stephen Harper rightly stopped the Liberal-NDP-Bloc “coalition” from subverting the will of the electorate), it’s not unreasonable that the PM ask for Parliament to be prorogued — as all previous prime ministers have done — to write a throne speech, shuffle the cabinet and prepare a budget.

Pierre Trudeau prorogued 11 times in 16 years; Jean Chretien four times in 10 years, including a four-month delay after Paul Martin became PM, to give Martin time to get his government ready. Newly elected governments take over within a few weeks, yet we’re asked to believe a sitting cabinet minister needed four months to set up shop!

Of course, Mr. Chretien’s true agenda was distancing himself from the auditor general’s report on the sponsorship scandal and dropping the mess into Paul Martin’s lap. I don’t recall manufactured outrage at the time by either the press or the opposition — certainly nothing resembling the contrived performance Canadians have been subjected to of late. Senator Moore was in that Liberal caucus and ignores their conduct, yet now expresses concern about an “affront to our democratic process.”

Prorogation did not “shut down Parliament” — it was already in recess. Prorogation merely extended the recess by 22 days. Prorogation doesn’t mean a prolonged shutdown of Parliament because that is not its purpose. Prorogation is a reset button — a government can prorogue and open a new Parliament on the same day if it wishes.

Suggestions that Parliament not sitting stops the business of the nation are ludicrous. I can assure Canadians that the members of the Conservative government are working — actively responding to the earthquake in Haiti and delivering the Economic Action Plan. I was in Ottawa last week with a full schedule, and am just as busy at home.

I’m surprised Senator Moore raised the issue of the consumer protection bill. Bill C-6 strengthened Canada’s product safety laws, protected Canadians by prohibiting the manufacture and importation of unsafe goods, and created the ability to order recalls of unsafe products. A good piece of legislation, it should have been passed expeditiously. Senator Moore’s Liberal colleagues in the House of Commons must have thought so too, because C-6 passed unanimously in the House.

However, in the Senate, it was attacked by the Liberals. When claiming they gave the issue “sober second thought,” perhaps they should consider this sober thought: Senators aren’t elected, at least not yet. When elected members of the House of Commons unanimously pass a bill, it’s a clear indication of what Canadians want.

Did Liberal senators get approval from their appointed leader, Michael Ignatieff, to ignore the vote of every elected MP in Canada?

Liberal MPs and senators sit in the same caucus, yet they voted against each other on this bill — surely unacceptable behaviour. This stunt, coupled with the chance now to establish a Conservative plurality in the Senate by appointing five new senators to help blunt future irresponsible conduct by the Liberals, is in itself reason enough to prorogue.

We have a minority Parliament. The government’s fate is in the hands of the opposition. If PM Harper’s conduct is so unacceptable, surely the Liberals and their coalition cohorts are obliged to defeat the government at the first opportunity, in order to rescue the country from such dire straits. If they choose to do nothing after March 3, it will certainly speak volumes about their sincerity, will it not?

Michael L. MacDonald is a Conservative senator for Nova Scotia.

I have no doubt all of what Senator MacDonald says is true. Partisanship exists and the power of prorogation (like any other power) gets used for partisan ends from time to time. Yes, the Prime Minister has the authority and it has been used many times. However this is not the point. The point is should the head of government, regardless of their political affiliation, have the power to interfere in the working of our legislatures which are tasked with overseeing and restraining government, whether at the provincial or federal level? Prorogation is a symptom of this larger problem and whether you support or condemn the current instance of it, it has had the salutary effect of causing Canadians to raise questions about how our governance system works. And that is how real reform starts. So this is a good thing.

So a $34 million exercise facility is to be built in a Conservative riding in Truro. Yes, government must invest in infrastructure but it has to be quality infrastructure that over time will help economic development, such as ports or highways or airports. Rinks and pools are clearly politically inspired low quality in-efficient infrastructure and the fitness centre and multi-purpose rooms will simply squeeze out any private competition in those areas. It just goes to show that nothing has changed here in Nova Scotia (or Canada) in terms of so-called regional development. You can spend all the money you want but if it is done badly we are further behind than if no money was spent. This has been the bane of Atlantic Canada for decades and it needs to be stopped.

There is a growing movement in Canada protesting against the proroguing of Parliament by the current Prime Minister. The Atlantica Party supports this non-partisan movement.

Prorogation hobbles the ability of the people’s representatives to oversee and restrain government. However prorogation itself is not the problem, it is a symptom of a fatal flaw in our federal and provincial styles of governance, government’s control of the legislature. Should the legislature control itself (including when it sits) or be controlled by the government it is supposed to oversee? In order to preserve our democracy we need strong independent legislatures. “How can you oversee something when that something controls you?”, asks Jonathan Dean, Leader of the Atlantica Party, “A simple policy regarding prorogation is not enough, we need a formal separation of government and legislature specified in a written constitution.”

We urge our membership and supporters and all those people concerned about our democracy to attend the anti-prorogation rally closest to you. Please also consider volunteering. There are currently events planned in Antigonish, Charlottetown, Fredericton, Halifax, Moncton, Saint John, St. John’s, Sydney, Truro, and Lunenburg.

Date: January 23ed
Time: 1pm
Location: check with your local chapter
(In Halifax Province House 1726 Hollis Street on the Granville side)

All details are available at the main website http://noprorogue.ca/

This facebook page has links to all events and all facebook groups associated with the movement.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=227662474562

Remember,

“When a government starts trying to cancel dissent or avoid dissent is frankly when it’s rapidly losing its moral authority to govern.” – Stephen Harper, Canadian Press, April 18, 2005
and

“Democracy is not something that you believe in, or something that you hang your hat on. It’s something that you do, you participate. Without participation, democracy crumbles and fails. If you participate, you win, and the future is yours.” – Abbie Hoffman
So participate and win!

Prime Minister Harper has delayed the opening of Parliament from January 25th to March 3ed. As a result many pieces of legislation die on the order paper and various committees including the Afghan detainee committee will be dissolved. Parliament was also prorogued about a year ago when a coalition was threatening to topple the Conservative government.

Our legislatures, including Parliament, are made up of representatives of the people who have the primary role of overseeing and holding government accountable. The Afghan detainee committee is a good example; a public committee asking questions about what the government may or may not have done. Without this citizens would only have the government’s version of what happened and no way of holding the government accountable. A strong independent legislature is vital to democracy.

In the U.S. the Senate and Congress perform this role much more freely and effectively due to a formal separation of powers written down in a constitution meaning the President and the government cannot control the actions of the two Houses. So after a short Christmas break both of these Houses resume work this week.

In Canada and Nova Scotia we allow government to control the legislature making it a rubber stamp assembly, especially during majority governments. Proroguing, that is switching off oversight and restraint, is simply an extension of this principle.

Discussion of prorogation should be non-partisan. The issue is whether the legislature should control itself (including when it sits) or should be controlled by the government it is supposed to oversee. If the latter then the Prime Minister or Premier should be able to open and shut down the legislature and its committees whenever convenient without explanation. If the former then we need a formal separation of the legislature from government.