Dear Editor:
Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s prorogation of Parliament for the second time in 12 months is another attack on Canadian democracy.
There is no valid reason for Prime Minister Harper to suspend the work of Parliament until March 3.
Prorogation kills all government legislation pending before Parliament and shuts down all committees, including the committee probing the treatment of Afghan detainees.
Thirty-seven pieces of legislation will now have to be re-introduced in a new session of Parliament.
The suspension of Parliament until March 3 also gives Prime Minister Harper the time to stack the Senate with Conservative appointees and to reconstitute the Senate committees with a Conservative majority.
This Parliament should still be sitting to work on the high jobless rate, Employment Insurance extensions, pension reform, Canada’s follow up to the Copenhagen climate change summit, and the Afghan detainee issue.
The Harper Conservatives , by shutting down Parliament for their own partisan convenience, are showing utter contempt for Parliament and indeed for good government.
We need and deserve an open and accountable federal government working to address the pressing concerns of all Canadians.
Yours truly,
Brian Lynch,
Cornwall,ON.
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Hear Hear!
How nice of you to “hear,hear” your own piece!
By the way Brian, you neglected to point out that the prorogation amounts to only fifteen days more than planned!
Anyway, keep spitting into the wind!
The “letter of the law” is limited by language and grammar, but surely Parliamentarians, as law makers, must be aware of that concept known as “the spirit of the law”.
And while their skill and aptitude as lawmakers (which is clearly lacking) can be excused perhaps by dismal education and experience, their lack of fairness and good judgement in applying the law can not.
It is clear that the behaviour of government Members of Parliament is self-serving and not in the interest of their fellow men, women and families of Canada.
“All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor.”
1 Corinthians 10:23-24
Well I don’t care if it is a regular occurence, or if he is allowed to do it, I am disgusted in the timing of this and I really do care about torture of the afghan detainees and a mutitude of other issues Harper is ignoring. under the guise of what he is allowed to do. It is appalling anyone would find excuses for his lack of concern for accountability. THank You and I say Hear Hear
haha, I just noticed that Formerlib thinks I’m Brian Lynch. And make that voice heard Suzanne!
I’m glad that parliament is prorogued and the vicious attacks on the military by the opposition parties has been halted. The torture issue is not the fault of our military, those wonderful people who are laying their lives on the line every day for us. The fault is with the Afghanistan Army/Police whatever they are.
Who knew what…when…why…or how is really irrelevant! If there were no impending election we wouldn’t hear a word on this subject. Lets give it a rest and stop trying to bash the military!
On the torture question, it comes to mind that I’m tired of latte Liberals and journalists in Ottawa, who would never wear the uniform of the Canadian Forces themselves, or let their entitlement-handicapped kids near a recruiting station, and they just spend time bashing our military. They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second decisions under life and death circumstances, and just bad mouth better people than themselves. Do bad things happen in war? Sure they do. Do our troops sometimes misbehave? Sure they do. Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies? Not even close. Consider this: I’ll let myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that has been allegedly heaped on Taliban terrorists in Afghanistan, and the critics can let themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the blood-spattered Al-Qaeda torture rooms the US troops found in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia because the girls were Christian. Then we’ll compare notes. Canadian soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from them in fear. So why do we now seek to bash those same troops with parliamentary investigations. Who really cares any more!!! When parliament gets back from proroguation lets just get on with running the country.
Stan: Where do you get “vicious attacks on the military by the opposition parties” from? That’s Harper-MacKay propaganda, and you are falling for it hook, line and sinker. Nobody is bashing our military; everyone recognizes they are doing an extraordinary job in the most difficult of circumstances. It’s the ways Harper and his government twist the truth and make personal attacks rather than demonstrate responsibility that more and more Canadians find disgusting. Relax, Stan, and pay attention. Canadians care about our soldiers overseas; they also care about democracy at home.
PJR I’m not falling for anything. Whatever the Liberals, NDP and BLOC questioned of our government, I think we all know that in the end it’s going to fall on the backs of our soldiers. They don’t deserve this! Lets just forget the tempest-in-a-teacup and get on with making Canada work when parliament comes back from their extended vacation, without pay I hope! Please don’t talk about Canadians being disgusted by the way governments twist the truth and make personal attacks on the opposition, THE LIBERALS, NDP AND BLOC ARE DOING IT TOO! Don’t dwell – move on!
Where were all these rightous librial voices during the Trudeau and Chretien years…
Compared to a few Liberal PM’s, Stephen Harper is a proroguing amateur.
Chretien 4, Harper 2.
35th Parliament Chretien 1996/2/2
36th Parliament 1999/9/18
37th Parliament 2002/9/16,2003/11/12 ( the last one was done to avoid the auditor generals release of the report on Adscam)
And if you really want a lopsided score how about this one:
Trudeau 11, Harper 2.
26th Parliament Trudeau 1963/12/21,1965/4/3
27th Parliament Trudeau 1967/5/8
28th Parliament Trudeau 1969/10/22,1970/10/7,1972/2/16
29th Parliament Trudeau 1974/2/26
30th Parliament Trudeau 1976/10/12,1977/10/17,1978/10/10,1983/11/30