Canadian Government Reeling with Proroguing

Want a cushy job? Just become a federal Member of Parliament in Canada.

Oh you get hounded by the media, and when you tell people at dinner parties what you do for a living you’re bound to get grilled with jokes about “honest politicians” that aren’t honest at all, but you get lots of time off.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper prorogued Parliament, essentially shutting down the wheels of government because he and his Conservative party couldn’t deal with the opposition parties in any other adult way. So the Prime Minister gets a fresh start – all proposed motions, bills and anything else that was unresolved prior to the proroguing becomes null and void, they must go through the entire legislative process all over again.

But within a mere matter of days after returning from weeks of time off – thanks to this prorogued Parliament – the government gets to take a vacation.

The week-long March Break begins on March 15, just a handful of days after Parliament’s return from the proroguing. After that week’s vacation, they’d only have to work another nine days, and then – get this – they’d have two-weeks off in April, including the Easter weekend.

For many of us, just taking a day off involves begging and pleading with our employers. Upon our return we usually have a stack of work overflowing from that one day of rest and relaxation. Not so if you work for the federal government.

Though the federal ruling Conservative Party is trying to minimize the flack from all this time off, by taking it away. Wednesday, Conservative whip Gordon O’Connor sent a memo to his party’s MPs and Senators advising them to cancel their March and April breaks.

This is a public relations maneuver as the ruling minority Conservative Party already is taking the heat from the media and concerned citizens over their decision to prorogue Parliament. Whether it works remains to be seen – in order to cancel the traditional March and April breaks all parties must unanimously approve the decision.

And getting anything done unanimously is what caused this whole fiasco in the first place. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper wasn’t getting the support from the other political parties he wanted, so instead of working things out, he used a rare law to stop the whole process of governing, without calling an election, so that he, his party and the other political parties could start all over again.

Since Prime Minister Harper prorogued Parliament on December 30 of last year, the government has been in a state of limbo, allowing federal politicians more time off, while the Prime Minister and his closest advisors figure out how to proceed.

One of the signs of a great leader is someone capable of making important and critical decisions on the fly. Someone not afraid to take the risks necessary to manage, lead and where necessary – take action to resolve conflicts so that the business of governing continues.

Whatever one thinks of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s management and leadership skills, he has taken action to resolve the conflicts inevitable within the Canadian House of Commons. Only his actions are questionable at best, because instead of resolving the issues, he just delayed them.

Related articles by Zemanta

• No March break for Parliament (nationalpost.com)
• Tories aim to cancel March and April parliamentary breaks (thestar.com)
• Tories ask MPs to cancel spring breaks (cbc.ca)
• Harper moves to cancel MPs' breaks in March, April (ctv.ca)
• Canadians see prorogation as extended vacation: Poll (ctv.ca)
• Just Another Day in the Sandbox for Canada's Parliament (jordansdaily.blogspot.com)

Just Another Day in the Sandbox for Canada’s Parliament

Managing a country isn’t easy, which is why we hope those we elect into our governments are more than capable of doing the job.

Though if you’ve been watching Canada’s federal government the past few years, you might be shaking your head in disgust.

For the past few years, federal politicians in Canada have tried to resolve their differences by shutting down Parliament and calling snap elections. When elections weren’t called, the threats of them were held over our heads, as one political party claimed they just couldn’t work with the other.

The latest childish-acting out by Canada’s ruling party hasn’t forced an election, but might as well have, because it has a similar effect.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party has prorogued Parliament. This is what usually happens after an election, essentially wiping clean all un-passed bills or motions, allowing the politicians to start with a clean slate. Any bills or motions which weren’t voted on prior to the proroguing must be re-presented and voted on.

As proroguing usually happens after an election, we think nothing of it, because it allows the newly elected or re-elected government a chance to start the business of governing.

But when it is called in the middle of a government’s rule, there is reason to be concerned.

In this case, Prime Minister Harper’s government called the prorogue of Parliament because an economic statement they made alienated the opposition.
So, rather than trying to explain themselves, their actions and taking the enormous responsibility of governing seriously, they threw their hands up in the air, and decided to erase their controversial economic statement, so that they could start from scratch.

Just when you think the federal Canadian government has done the most childish thing unbecoming a group of professional politicians, there they go doing something completely different, but even more childish than before.

Makes you wonder just how far will these adults go, in their childish ways?

Far worse than embarrassing Canada on the world stage – which has already happened as we have seen by the reaction of many world leaders to Prime Minister Harper’s lateness for a photo opportunity during the last meeting of the G-20 – the other world leaders just laughed it off, in a “oh that’s just the bumbling Prime Minister Harper for you,” way – far worse than that, the business of governing constantly falls by the wayside. Things just don’t get done, because our federal politicians are too wrapped-up in their own childish antics, constantly trying to one-up the other, rather than doing the right thing.

And the right thing for any politician, municipal, provincial, state or federal, is to ensure the business of the government gets done.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Going prorogue | Colin Horgan (guardian.co.uk)
• In proroguing Parliament, Harper accused of undermining democracy (canada.com)
• Liberal attack ads take on prorogation (nationalpost.com)
• PM could alter Canada 'beyond recognition': Ignatieff (ctv.ca)
• 'Conservative' cheques cross the line, opposition says; Calls for investigation (nationalpost.com)