Canadian Politics - Proroguing? Again?

[crazy canuck]

I dont really understand why this is an issue.

Me neither, which is why I'm asking

I've come across some people who think it's a big deal, so I thought I'd get the more Conservative take on it.  And that is, if I understand you all, that this is just a matter of course normal thing that happens every year and that's that?

I ran into one of those just last night.  I joked about it with her but it wasnt really the occasion to question her as to why she thought it was a big deal.

[crazy canuck]

Wow Josephus,

Its hard to get past the rhetoric in that article.  I assumed it could not have been written by an actual journalist.  It sounded more like an angry blog so I looked.  Sure enough.

Michael D. Behiels is University Research Chair of Canadian Federalism and Constitutional Studies at the University of Ottawa.

[Grallon]

We only need a majority Conservative govt to hasten the days of liberation for Quebec! 




G.

[Barrister]

We only need a majrity Conservative govt to hasten the days of liberation for Quebec! 

I agree.  All Canadians can only be truly free under a Conservative government. 

[Grallon]

I agree.  All Canadians can only be truly free under a Conservative government. 

I've always been a partisan of 'la politique du pire" - otherwise people simply won't be shaken out of their habits.




G.

[BuddhaRhubarb]

Parliaments get prorogued on a pretty much annual basis - it happens before every new session and new speech from the throne.

It was highly unusual last year in that you had an opposition threatening a non confidence motion.  But I don't see it being a big deal this year.

Really? How come last year was the first time I ever heard of it being done. No coverage before? or because if it's done by a majority gov. it's not news?

edit reading the thread more carefully. The only term I ever recall being used to describe a break in Parliament is a "recess". I'm pretty sure proroging is not as common as you say.

[Barrister]

Parliaments get prorogued on a pretty much annual basis - it happens before every new session and new speech from the throne.

It was highly unusual last year in that you had an opposition threatening a non confidence motion.  But I don't see it being a big deal this year.

Really? How come last year was the first time I ever heard of it being done. No coverage before? or because if it's done by a majority gov. it's not news?

edit reading the thread more carefully. The only term I ever recall being used to describe a break in Parliament is a "recess". I'm pretty sure proroging is not as common as you say.

Exactly.  Not news most of the time, so it doesn't get covered.

I don't want to be too much of a Conservative homer - proroguing Parliament to avoid a no confidence vote was very unusual, perhaps even unique.  But proroguing Parliament does happen about once a year.

[BuddhaRhubarb]

Parliaments get prorogued on a pretty much annual basis - it happens before every new session and new speech from the throne.

It was highly unusual last year in that you had an opposition threatening a non confidence motion.  But I don't see it being a big deal this year.

Really? How come last year was the first time I ever heard of it being done. No coverage before? or because if it's done by a majority gov. it's not news?

edit reading the thread more carefully. The only term I ever recall being used to describe a break in Parliament is a "recess". I'm pretty sure proroging is not as common as you say.

Exactly.  Not news most of the time, so it doesn't get covered.

I don't want to be too much of a Conservative homer - proroguing Parliament to avoid a no confidence vote was very unusual, perhaps even unique.  But proroguing Parliament does happen about once a year.

Ok then but Do they not have spin control at the Con HQ? Doing this (again) when there is an issue of corruption in government happening (Afghanistan) is fishy to many who are non cons or on the fence. especially since they could have just recessed and not killed say their Crime bill. It makes me suspicious (because of this suspicious overkill of taking a break) of the real motivation.

See I thought for the last few months they were doing much better than they had been, the Cons. But now I see they are still the game players that I had thought they were last year. A break til March? I wish I made tens of thousands of dollars to not go to work for 3 or more months every year.

Polticians should be working at least Part Time at their actual jobs. just a thought.

[Barrister]

To defend politicians of all political stripes - just because they aren't in Ottawa doesn't mean they're not working.  There is a ton of work to be done in the local constituencies.

[BuddhaRhubarb]

To defend politicians of all political stripes - just because they aren't in Ottawa doesn't mean they're not working.  There is a ton of work to be done in the local constituencies.

I'm aware of that. I was exagerating slightly..... Though in my riding all our MP gets to do is sit and agree with all the people complaining about the government. It's not like the Fed. NDP has any actual sway of clout no matter that they always win in a landslide here.

And that is a valid thing to do. Her constituents need someone to listen, and maybe be able to at least mention them in Parliament someday when it's convenient for the Conservatives to go back to Ottawa.

Personally though any vague grudging respect I'd built up for the Tories in their exposing Iggy as a tool, and keeping us in slightly better shape than most during the financial meltdown has completely evaporated.

But I'm not their base and never will be, so they don't care. This is my main point of contention against Politicians of all stripes. They only help their own. as far as I can see, at least. There hasn't been one government since I've been voting age that hasn't either disappointed me or just confirmed this cynicism.

[viper37]

Really? How come last year was the first time I ever heard of it being done. No coverage before? or because if it's done by a majority gov. it's not news?

edit reading the thread more carefully. The only term I ever recall being used to describe a break in Parliament is a "recess". I'm pretty sure proroging is not as common as you say.

See, all you have to do is look at the session numbers.  Every time there's a new number, it means the Parliament wasd prorogued.  Every time there was a new Throne Speech, the Parliament had been prorogued before.

[crazy canuck]

Ok then but Do they not have spin control at the Con HQ?

This will be a non issue in less then a week.  For those who already hate the Cons it will always be seen as some ill done deed.  The Conservatives dont care about those people.  For everyone else it will be news that never really was news.  No reason for the Conservatives to keep this story alive.

[Barrister]

On a more interesting note, two members of the Alberta PC Caucus have left the party to join the Wildrose Alliance, a brand new party only a year old.  The Alliance now has more MLAs than the NDP, and leads public opinion polls.

Could 39 years of PC rules in Alberta be coming to an end?

[BuddhaRhubarb]

On a more interesting note, two members of the Alberta PC Caucus have left the party to join the Wildrose Alliance, a brand new party only a year old.  The Alliance now has more MLAs than the NDP, and leads public opinion polls.

Could 39 years of PC rules in Alberta be coming to an end?

Isn't Wild Rose a more gayly named Reform party?

[Barrister]

On a more interesting note, two members of the Alberta PC Caucus have left the party to join the Wildrose Alliance, a brand new party only a year old.  The Alliance now has more MLAs than the NDP, and leads public opinion polls.

Could 39 years of PC rules in Alberta be coming to an end?

Isn't Wild Rose a more gayly named Reform party?

I dunno.

Over the last 10+ years there have been a bunch of attempts to form a new right-wing party in Alberta.  There was a Reform Party of Alberta, the relaunched Social Credit Party, the Alberta Party, Alberta Alliance, and several others I'm forgetting the names of.

Wildrose Alliance is I believe comprised of a lot of the same people who made up those other movements, many of whom doubtless had ties to Reform, but there's no formal or official ties.