On the advice of Stephen Harper, the Governor General has prorogued Parliament until late January.
Prorogation is the latest move in the desperate campaign of the Conservative government to avoid defeat in the House of Commons at the hands of the majority of its members. We now enter an unprecedented period in Canadian history. A prime minister who has lost the confidence of the House, the sine qua non for governing in our system, is continuing in office.
Unwilling to govern as prime ministers have in the past, Stephen Harper has transformed himself into the country’s self-anointed Lord Protector. The original Lord Protector was Oliver Cromwell who did away with a Parliament he feared in 1653 and then ruled on his own.
Stephen Harper, for the next seven weeks, will be governing without the parliament that has been elected by the people.
In the coming weeks, as Conservative Transport Minister John Baird told the CBC, the plan of the government is to go above the heads of parliamentarians and the governor general to appeal to the people. The famous Harper communications team will go into overdrive to change the subject from that of a government that has lost the confidence of the House to a crisis of national unity because the separatist Bloc Quebecois is supposedly about to be propelled to the very centre of power.
The Lord Protector is seeking to make a fundamental change in our governing arrangements. His goal is to nullify the historic right of members of parliament to decide in timely fashion who has the confidence of the House Commons. Instead, he has bet his future on his ability to subvert the will of parliament by unleashing a storm of popular fury across the country. Not quite across the country. The popular fury will be directed not only at the Liberals and the NDP, but above all at the right of Bloc Quebecois members of parliament to function in the decision making of the federal government.
The Lord Protector has his scapegoat. That scapegoat is Quebec.
Those who would restore our system of government, the tranquility of the relations between the Quebecois and the rest of the country, and who would install a government to lead the country through the economic crisis need to act publicly and insistently.
The battle has been joined.
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25 comments:
Harper's cons get their requested time out - cowards.
Now we get an onslaught of right-wing claptrap and the move to make him king.
I am so disappointed and have never felt so disappointed in the political outcome, as I have felt today.
I feel like I am living again in that nightmare of the Harris "common sense revolution years" but this will be worse.
Will he, during this time, be able to make appointments to the Senate, do you know?
Professor Laxer,
Would you go so far to say that we are now being governed by an unconstitutional regime?
In suspending Parliament in this way -- knowing full well that the government does not have the confidence of the House -- has the Crown and the PM not tossed aside the first principles of "representative" and "responsible" government?
Hey, if he appoints himself to Senate and resigns as a MP, which house does he require the confidence of?
Since no limits were applied to the prime minister by the governor general during the period of prorogation, he has the right to appoint Senators. It will be fascinating to see if he does. He wants Senators to be elected. Stay tuned.
While I don't believe that we now live in an unconstitutional regime, I think Harper has pushed it to the very limit. He will be governing in the face of the clear indication that he has lost the confidence of the House. This pushes us right up against the frontier of what is constitutional. It is unthinkable for us to allow this kind of man to continue in office.
This is an apalling precedent. I am utterly disappointed in Mme. Jean, but we must remember it was Harper who pushed her into this situation.
That he would have risked national unity for his own political power, this much is understandable given what we have seen of his character.
But that he would force the GG to make a precedent that sets the executive over and against parliament, this is truly frightening.
I think that the Governor General didn't want to ruin Christmas and other seasonal festivities for Canadians so she chose to let them take a break.
She probably thought there was enough turmoil in the world and a cooling off time would be helpful.
James:
The coalition will have to get on the road to explain itself to Canadians, and coordinate its efforts. Not an easy job when the leader can't get his message across in either language. Rae and Ignatieff will do in a pinch as standins. But the pressure will be on the Liberals, whose ranks are filled with doubters.
If they can hold together and if the budget doesn't meet the standard set by the coalition, the coalition will have every right to vote down the budget and the government with it. Those are big ifs. The pressure is on.
Now that the House has taken a "time out", perhaps cooler heads will prevail until they resume in January as MPs will hear a budget, put forth a non-confidence vote and either send the House into another election, or the GG will ask the other parties to form a coalition. In the meantime, the goverment will try to sell their scheme and the opposition parties will lobby the electorate on their ideas.
What we have here is an election campaign without the writs.
Speak up. Speak out and enjoy the ride.
LeonT
I have a question please.
Can Harper call an election, either after losing a vote of confidence or at his whim, and the GG accede without giving the other parties a chance to form a government?
If, when Parliament resumes at the end of January, the Opposition votes down the government either on the new Speech from the Throne or on the Budget, Harper will go to the GG and ask for a Dissolution and a new election. The opposition leaders will go to her and explain that the Liberals and NDP have agreed to form a coalition government with the support of the Bloc. Under these circumstances, I believe the GG will call on the coalition to form a government and will refuse Harper's demand for a new election.
Thank you very much for your reply, Professor Laxer.
If the coalition is allowed to proceed it sets a precedent for every future democratically elected government to be taken down on a whim. Our votes will not count.
We should not have a kneejerk reaction to a recession that does not yet exist. Give Harper time to assess the situation and prepare a prudent plan.
His comments re Quebec reflect what the man-in-the-street is really thinking but cannot verbalize in our politically correct society.
Let both sides cool down and put Canada ahead of their thirst for power for its own sake.
Harper is completely unprincipled. While railing against any dealings with the Bloc as far as the opposition is concerned he could very well at the same time make a deal with them to save his own skin in January.
The best way out of this mess would be a fresh start, preferably without an election. The best way (and absolutely not going to happen - it would require a personality transplant) would be for Stephen Harper to resign both as Prime Minister and as MP. Give some other member of the CPC a chance to form a government, with another chance to co-operate with other parties in formulating policy and legislation. Let's face it - a government based on the largest party in Parliament would be more stable and more representative than one that isn't. But Harper has personally poisoned Parliamentary relations. The irony is that Harper's one-man ruling style would make disowning his government actions credible.
If Harper admitted his culpability for stretching his powers to the breaking point, and did penance by leaving the scene, we could get on with having the country governed.
Purely hypothetically then, Professor Laxer, what would be the result of a Harper resignation at this point? Could Parliament carry on with a new leader of the CPC as Prime Minister as long as he/she held the confidence of the House? Or would that defy precedent in some way, and require a renewed mandate through an election?
Today’s actions by the PM and GG have seriously damaged our democratic system of government. The decision made by the GG opens the door to future abuse by PMs to avoid facing the wrath of the house whenever it suits them. I believe that, since the GG is appointed by the PM and virtually always accedes to his requests, Mme Jean felt that she was bound by this tradition to err on the side of caution. I completely disagree with this line of thinking though. All of our elected and unelected officials should hold the betterment of the nation at the core of all of their decisions (not realistic in most cases I know) but in this case the GG has utterly failed this test. The parliament was unfolding as it should. An arrogant bully was to be put in his place. Any right-wing blather about a coup or socialist/separatist plot can safely be ignored as can, unfortunately, the near complete lack of knowledge in their own system of government displayed by my fellow citizens.
When the coalition does become the government, after dealing with the deteriorating economic situation, they should begin proceedings to revise the constitution to eliminate the possibility of a PM abusing the GG in this manner again. I actually like the position of GG, unelected as they are, because they can be appointed from non-partisan elements in society to fulfil a necessary but largely ceremonial function. They should not hold the nation’s future in they’re unqualified hands as we have seen today.
On a related issue… Professor Laxer, it is far past due that we have a truly nationalist political party to choose from. Are you game?
In answer to the purely hypothetical question: if Harper resigned during the period of prorogation to be replaced by another Conservative, the GG would call on this new leader to form a government. That new PM would have to test his or her confidence in the House when it resumes. That is, of course, little different from what will face Harper at the end of January. I suppose Conservatives who want to keep their government alive might consider a dump-Harper initiative. There's been little sign of it so far.
To the last question, I'm in favour of having a head of state who plays the role now played by the GG (I'm not for eliminating the position of GG). One of the strengths of our system, in my opinion, is that unlike the American system, the head of government and head of state is not the same person. We may need to further clarify the precise role of the GG after this crisis concludes.
I've always wanted to see the growth of nationalist strength in all of the parties.
Harper is awesome, the only politician who has any balls. The people didn't lose confidence in Harper just the left wing nut jobs. The popular vote has gone in his favor since he started this, from 37% to 44%.
What does that tell you ? How can you argue with that!
Of all the fallout of these recent days, it has been the demonizing of the Bloc and the province of Quebec. Most Canadians don't understand the psyche of a Quebecois (nor do they want to). Harper does. That he should play this card is beyond belief. I don't think the coalition would have worked well which would have led to an election. In my opinion, Harper should have taken his licks and then let his PR machine do its magic with the majority of Canadians who don't understand how our system works. Why would they? They have been mislead by leaders who have reached for Presidential status. With the international hope raised during the election in the USA of Barack Obama, Canadians want their leader, their president.
What now? Wait. Sadly, I think another election will be called in January and Harper will win a majority government with the result that Canadians will have federalism change right before their eyes. Democracy and a nation will be the losers. Hope that somehow, the Liberals will risk changing leaders NOW, and not either Ignatieff or Rae.
http://retiredeagle.wordpress.com/
rgl
Parliament Prorogue Outrage
Harper's address to the people of Canada, Wednesday, Dec. 3rd, was patronizing in the extreme, dishonest in his facts, irresponsible in his omissions and cheap fear-mongering that Karl Rove would be proud of.
The Governor General's agreement to prorogue Parliament is giving the wolf another sheep's clothing.
This is wrong. Democracy will be best served by a coalition.
Harper Night in Canada
First game of the season. Puck and sticks down on the ice. Everyone agrees to play fair and square; no harm, no foul.
Very early in the game, the goalie is caught way out of his net. The opposing forwards race up the ice in a clean three on none break. The now desperate goalie caught behind the play doesn't only throw his stick down ice, he also looks to the ref and demands that she end the game before nary a slapshot is taken on an empty net, way before the first period is even finished. The ref reluctantly agrees.
The goalie then questions the opposing left winger's right to be in the arena at all even though he's taken passes from that very same athlete before in previous games when the composition of the teams were different.
Harper, a referee in his own hockey game, changes the rules to suit his scorched earth style of play.
No clean checks, just Bertuzzi-class on ice assaults. Vindictive even in victory, desperate in defeat, gooning on and off the ice.
Is this really how we want our national game to be played?
This whole situation is absurd. Partisan politics by a minority government, independent parties in coalition with nationalist parties, lies to the public, prorogue, zero accountability and the possibility of another election just around the corner with most of the major parties in debt.
It's a sad month for the economy, the republican party, Knut the polar bear, the Thai government, and our infirm Canadian democracy.
Here we are today, and although I don't normally post whole comment I will here.
Two new developments -
1. Rae has taken over as leader liberal in the coalition. I think this is a good move because Dion just doesn't have "it."
2. Canadians who vote Liberal strongly support the idea of a coalition between the Grits and the New Democratic Party, even when the separatist Bloc Quebecois is thrown into the mix.
An exclusive poll for Sun Media by Leger Marketing shows 78% of identified Liberal voters would have preferred a three-way coalition rather than an election had the Tories been defeated in the House of Commons. Only 13% favoured an election.
Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean took away the election option yesterday -- at least for the next several weeks -- when she gave consent to a request from Prime Minister Stephen Harper to prorogue Parliament until late January.
POWER HUNGRY
The numbers supporting the coalition show Liberal backers are more interested in regaining power than in worrying about who they must ally with to achieve that goal.
"If (Liberal Leader Stephane) Dion had known these numbers that we are seeing here before he went into the coalition ... yes, this is a natural course for him to take," said Leger marketing vice-president Dave Scholz.
Even Bloc Quebecois involvement doesn't faze Liberal voters, he said.
Fifty-seven percent of NDP supporters also liked the coalition, but one-quarter did not. That suggests, said Scholz, that many would rather have held another election than simply transfer power from one group to another.
Bloc Quebecois backers were happiest with the idea of a coalition: 79% favoured it over an election, whereas only 8% disagreed. (http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2008/12/05/7640731-sun.html)
Altogether and being a pragmatist and a social democrat, I know Bob knows "how to fight", is strategic, and hopefully remembers how to share (caution but go forward). And I love the coalition idea, and cannot fathom Harper as king.
Professor Laxer,
How do we make sense of Harper's rise in the public opnion?
CBC poll suggests that now 44% of Canadians support his party?
What is going on??
People don't like Dion because he's sort of a nerd.
There, I said it.
Here is a funny video that sums it up perfectly, in my opinion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQMtwJ7fUgY
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