Harper Proroguing Parliament again

[picard102]

Even if the Liberals had a half competent leader.

There in lies the issue. There is hardly anyone left in the Liberal Party who's competent and has the will to be the PM.

 

[Second_in_pie]

There in lies the issue. There is hardly anyone left in the Liberal Party who's competent and has the will to be the PM.

Alright, I'm assuming that nobody'd vote for an 18 year old PM, right

I think that if we had Dion back, he was a leader that might have been a bit over the top, but he knew where to lead the party, and he would have made a great PM to really open the 21st century for Canada. Assuming that it could take a couple years for a "very competent" leader to arise, Dion could definitely have paved the way for such a mythical beast (I think that the "competent PM" genus died out a century ago with the buffalos.)
He might not have been best, but he'd be great as an intern and certainly much better than Ignatieff.

Looking forward though, things do look a bit dry. There's not any obvious rising star or visionary in either the Liberals or the Conservatives, or the NDP, or the Greens, or the Bloc (though they'd never get it anyways.) So either it's going to be a sudden spring up of someone unnoticed, or we're going to face the same stagnation and almost backwards thinking for the next 10 years at least.

 

[Benc7]

Grass Roots Fury Greets Shuttered Parliament

From today's Toronto Star:

"Get back to work" is the rallying cry on a Facebook page that has been gaining thousands of supporters each day since it was launched last week – approaching 20,000 by the end of the day on Monday. "


http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/746068--grassroots-fury-greets-shuttered-parliament?bn=1

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=227662474562&ref=nf

 

[Jonny5]

There in lies the issue. There is hardly anyone left in the Liberal Party who's competent and has the will to be the PM.

I think this is applicable to all parties and as a general commentary on our Members of Parliament. Remember how in the last decade there were endless pay raises for politicians, at all levels, almost doubling their salaries, because they were "not able to attract top talent" at those levels. So this is the top talent we've obtained?

If, by top talent, they are refering to leaders of business, education and law then to attract them, salaries need to rise by hundreds of thousands. Until then, we get brain-dead nobodies who see they can clear 100 grand a year, have a lifetime pension and do almost nothing.

 

[kEiThZ]

Were you a-ok with the prospect of the NDP-LPC-BQ coalition becoming the government last year?

I most certainly was. That's how democracy works. He who controls the most seats gets the throne in our system. If the NDP-LPC-BQ had the right to do it the last time around, then the Conservatives most certainly have the right to prorogue parliament this time around. Of course, that does not speak to the ethics of the issue, which is left for voters to judge...

Personally, I'd rather not have our nation airing its dirty laundry during the Olympics. Save the grand debates and grandstanding for after the partyguests have gone home.

 

[afransen]

Keith: I don't know what you mean. You seem to be suggesting that last time, it was the LPC/NDP/BQ that asked for prorogation. Both times it was Harper. Last time was far worse, as it was abundantly clear that the government would not survive a test of confidence in the House of Commons. Proroguing for two months under those circumstances, without even so much as acting only as a caretaker government in the meantime meant that the Conservatives hijacked Canadian democracy for two months, and continued to pull all the levers of power.

This time, prorogation was merely a ploy to shut down debate and delay further Parliamentary sanctions for being in contempt of Parliament for defying a motion of the full House to provide certain documents. Prorogation is meant as a tool to reboot the House once a legislative session has largely completed its work. Prorogations are typically very short. None of that describes the current situation.

I stand by my position that I took in December 2008, that prorogation should only be granted should a majority of MPs agree. As it is, we have the executive branch of government able to dismiss the legislative branch on a whim, whenever they desire. This is not an appropriate balance of power. Parliament should pass a law making it illegal for anyone to advise the GG to prorogue Parliament without a motion being passed to that effect by a majority of the House.

 

[kEiThZ]

^ Never meant to imply that the coalition was trying to shut down Parliament. I was simply responding to the comment. I think there's this view sometimes that some of us have a double standard and that we were against the coalition using parliamentary procedure but are okay with the Conservatives doing so.

I, for one, support all parties following the rules and deploying them to maximum effect. If anything, at least it educates Canadians on how the system works.

 

[Roy G Biv]

Ignatieff has told the Liberals to show up for work on the 25th of January.... this could be a very daft move.

 

[Second_in_pie]

Ignatieff has told the Liberals to show up for work on the 25th of January.... this could be a very daft move.

I wonder... they could pull a petition to resume parliament as scheduled on the 25th, pass it, then let just the liberals, NDP, bloc and greens take over parliament as the conservatives are all on vacations to Cuba!

EDIT: It could either be a very daft move, or it could be quite a good move. While I don't trust Ignatieff to make good moves anymore, they could show up to work and, while the conservatives are all away, discuss the future of the country and what they should do. No doubt with the media coverage coming from half of parliament away while the other half is wondering where everyone is, it could fuel a huge amount of support for the Liberals, after they've had a day or at the most two months to see the liberal plan. It could create national support for the Liberals (who would be seen as the responsible people arriving at work while the conservatives are all on their extra-long break,) and could make even more people angry at Harper's decision and what he's done in the past with a reasonably irresponsible government...

...Either that, or Ignatieff will just look more like an idiot than he did before. Duh what, Parliament doesn't start for another 2 months!?

 

[Admiral Beez]

"Get back to work" is the rallying cry on a Facebook page that has been gaining thousands of supporters each day since it was launched last week – approaching 20,000 by the end of the day on Monday.

Who cares about Facebook? This is the most ridiculous form of protest, it takes so little investment of time or effort, and besides 20,000 supporters out of 30+ million Canadians is pretty weak.

 

[w.ll.am]

Well the sign up is the size of a large town now.... only a day later...
73,767

While I agree that the initial sign up of facebook is fairly easy it can lead to a good amount of letter-writing being generated by the information in that group.

Showing up for work even though parliament has been suspended will definitely send a positive message to many Canadians, much more so than pushing propaganda down our throats for the next month. I don't really have anything against Harper but I do feel he's just postponing the inevitable.

 

[nfitz]

Well the sign up is the size of a large town now.... only a day later...
73,767

Hmm ... and about half-an-hour later it's over 75,000 - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=260348091419

Interesting to watch, but of all the dirty tricks Harper has pulled in the last few years, I'm not sure why this is the one that seems to cause a reaction. Simply the straw that broke the camels back?

 

[urbanfan89]

Personally, I'd rather not have our nation airing its dirty laundry during the Olympics. Save the grand debates and grandstanding for after the partyguests have gone home.

Life goes on, Olympics or no Olympics.

The Italian parliament didn't shut down during the 2006 Turin games. The Greek parliament didn't shut down during the 2004 Athens games. The US Congress didn't shut down during the 2002 Salt Lake games. Not even the rubber-stamp National People's Congress in China shut down during the 2008 Beijing games.

This is a really, really lame excuse.

 

[Brandon716]

Maybe this will be the moment Canadians see Harper in a different light. Until now he's been the guy who hasn't done anything super wrong (politically speaking), but this might make him look weak enough to solidify support behind the Liberals in the spring.

 

[LAz]

I don't get why the liberals are against the conservatives... they seem like two ideal partners. The liberals have kinda gone towards the old PC party, while the Cons try to present themselves as a moderate party (because they killed/swallowed PC), yet they are far right douchbags.