willbillyblog

A Canadian's perspective on domestic and international issues. Independent coverage of Canadian federal, provincial and municipal elections and anything of interest in Canada.

Monday, January 04, 2010

Harper Prorogue Absolutely Undemocratic

There is absolutely no way parliament should be recessed, prorogued or otherwise dismissed without a majority vote, in the house, in favour!
Nor should any request have been made of the Governor General without the approval of the majority of the house. Nor should the Governor General have entertained any request from the Prime Minister unless the PM had the approval of the majority of the house.
In a democracy, majority rules, period. If there is a law that allows the Minority to overrule the Majority, then that law should be changed. The reason there are provisions, in parliamentary democracy, for minority governments and coalitions is, in part, to prevent a Minority from overruling the majority. We did not elect Mr. Harper to be Governor, or President, or King. We elected a Minority government. His party got more seats than any other single party, not more seats than all the other parties combined. If he had a Majority of the seats in the house, then fine, but he does not. Mr. Harper is the first PM in history to successfully be granted a prorogue without Majority consent.
The Opposition, if they are against this prorogue, should make it known to the GG and demand that parliament be recalled according to the parliamentary schedule that was in place when the house recessed. They should also, in my opinion, approach the Supreme Court, for a ruling on whether this prorogue is constitutional or not. They should also demand immediate recall of the house to vote on whether or not parliament should be prorogued. It should not be left to the GG or the PM to decide whether or not the house should sit without majority consent!
If the Opposition does nothing to have the prorogue reversed, then they are giving the PM pre-emptory right to govern without Majority consent, which in other words would constitute a Dictatorship!
Aside from the obvious issues, like parliamentarians getting paid not to work, and the scrapping of all current legislation, there are other concerns here. One, the people have not been told what the GG's reasons were for granting the prorogue! As citizens, we have a right to that information. Secondly, the Olympics have been mentioned. What on earth does a sporting event have to do with the function of parliament? Third, Canada is likely to be under heightened security alert during the Olympics, yet the PM is leaving Canada without watchdogs over the RCMP and Military Police during this period! That seems a mite irresponsible! If there is a security issue at the Olympics, what happens? Does Stephen Harper have the right to declare Martial Law without the consent of the house? There are just too many "what ifs" that could happen while parliament is not in session!

I think Canadians need to take the bull by the horns and do the job our parliamentarians are either refusing to do or being denied the ability to do. We need to phone and write our MPs, the GG, the Queen, and even the courts to demand the fundamental democratic principle of Majority Rule be adhered to by our PM and the house. If we do not, then we too are giving the PM permission to govern without Majority consent, and are in fact, signing away our democracy.

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