Once again, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has prorogued Parliament and it’s leaving a distaste in mouths of some members of the general government.
In fact, it is Harper’s fourth prorogation since he took the reins of the federal government in 2006.
As has been the case for the prime minister – both in times of having a minority or a majority government – whenever the heat is on and he is unable to deflect it with an adept counterattack against the Opposition, he either leaves Ottawa or he shuts the House of Commons down.
This furor is over the Senate expenses controversy, and try as they may, Harper and his Conservative MPs are unable to stem the groundswell of discontent over how some Tory-appointed senators have been caught with their hands in the cookie jar.
The longer the housing expense scandal is investigated, the more its being alleged that there was an attempted cover-up by the upper echelons of the Tory government.
While the public outcry has been somewhat subdued this time, Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo MP Cathy McLeod’s 100 Mile House constituency office sign received some graffiti when POROROGUE (AGAIN) looked like it was stamped on it.
The local MP called the act “fairly immature” and we agree.
Any act of vandalism is childish, especially political vandalism.
There are so many different avenues for people to get their message across to a politician or political party – face-to-face meetings, phone calls or letters to the politician and letters to the editor, which will open it up to public debate.
Meanwhile, McLeod says the use of proroguing is a normal way for government to set out a new legislative agenda.
“This prorogation is a very routine reset of a mid-term government,” she noted.
However, NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair says it’s the tactic of a desperate government worn out by ethical scandals and mismanagement.
New Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau notes that while the Tories have decided to delay the return to the House by a month, his MPs are back on Parliament Hill working on a plan to “build a stronger economy and a stronger middle class.”
The prorogue does provide the one thing the Tory government needs right now – the closure shelters the government from being under the microscope of Canadian taxpayers.
Hopefully, they can “reset” the new political agenda and then move forward in a positive parliamentary manner.
This would include being accountable for all that it does and being open and transparent about all that it wants to do.
This is the kind of government Canadian taxpayers want and deserve.
