Although we are into a new year some wrongs still remain within the House. We continue to have members within Parliament that only represent one part of the country namely the BQ, the Liberals continue to have the audacity to put a man forward as their leader that hasn’t fulfilled the principles of democracy (a leadership review and vote). Mr. Ignatieff has highjacked the democratic political process within his own party, talk about lack of traction with the electorate. Canadians are a smart bunch and will not be seduced by a slick professor that has and continues to flap in the wind, the man has no principles and no sense of direction. Where are his policy statements ? He reminds me of the teflon coating within my frying pan, nothing sticks ! This being said, the Conservatives shouldn’t take things for granted either, eventually Canadians will make a serene choice as to the composition of our government after another election. If my fellow Conservatives are keen and in tune with the majority of Canadians a majority Conservative government is much closer than we think ! Mr. Harper keep up the good work and sail on you have shown yourself to be our best alternative in steering the country in the right direction.

Regards,

Good move by the PM. The Media will give the oppostion yappers plenty of opportunity to stun us with their incisive and original comments anyway.
Maybe the PM will be able to cure some of the ills of the Senate during the hiatus.
Maybe he could close down the CBC and work on the appointment of a Gevernor General that most Canadians can respect while is is at it.
More power to the man an his team.

Prorogation is being used as a political tool. No doubt. I have no problem with that, but I am upset at the loss of some of the good work that was being done by the Tories themselves or reforming criminal law. Too bad they lost that one, at their own hands at that.

The furor is certainly a lot of hot air with no substance. Harper is mostly accused of being undemocratic and of becoming a dictator. They fail to realize that this parliament that he is trying to lead is disffunctional and will not likely ever be functional until until such time as first the illigitimate single issue non-democratic Bloc is removed from holding the balance of power and secondly that the Senate is either abolished or transformed into an elected democratic body. Almost every time the Conservatives have tried to pass legislation, even legislation supported by all parties, they have had to run the gauntlet of the partisan liberal dominated senate. If people would pay attention they would realize that what Harper will accomplish if he democratizes the senate is to take power away form the Prime Minister. So it is the height of hypocracy to suggest that he is not trying to run a democartic government. He is operating in the only way that he can begin to bring about a semblance of democracy to our parliament.

Ho hum, ho hum, another day at the parliamentary office. Nothing new going on just a change in characters. When are we Canadians going to come to our senses and realize that it really doesn’t matter who is in power be it Conservatives or Liberals the same games are going to be played over and over again as Rex Murphy’s article from the National Post so aptly points out.

My sincere suggestion is: Prorogue parliament until next year. Also, don’t pay those idiots one red cent, until they are allowed to go back to work. Then, let them sit in parliament for the month of February, with the appropriate 28/365 (adjusted for leap years) of their self imposed salary (they don’t even deserve that much). Not only would that save the taxpayers a lot of cash, it would give the MPs a bit of time to actually THINK about what is important (of course, most of them think that the most important thing, is to get re-elected).

Seriously though, it does make perfect sense to shut down parliament for a month, and a bit, during the Olympics. Few of the MPs will spend time in Ottawa anyway. What doesn’t make sense, is that all of the pending legislation etc. will be scrapped, and will need to be restarted when they do go back. That is just stupid.

Jan 11,2010 3.32pm Hey!! Maybe it is not such a bad idea that our governors and chosen leaders take some time off. At least, when not sitting, our representatives cannot prepose, cannot debate, and cannot pass enabling legislation which is just plain dumb. I know that all sitting members of parliament really do try to make life better for us dweebs in the hinterlands of the country but some time off might give all of our sitting members time to listen to the electorate, once again, and return to parliament with a more focused view point on what are the real essential problems of the day. Long gun registery, anyone! Dave S

I strongly agree that Prime Minister Harper was wise to prorogue the House at this time. It was the one way he could install 5 new Conservative Senators to offset the packed Senate that the Liberals have built up over the years. Harper offred an elected Senate, no one listened, so now they reap what they sowed.

Also, it should help get Ignatz, and his pack of coyotes, off the Afghanistan question about handing over Taliban prisoners. The Canadian soldiers did nothing wrong or illegal and the Liberals should quit trying to make hay out of it. Our servicemen deserve better.

If Harper saw that is was necessary then I agree with what he has done. He knows better than I do. He has alot of common sence people to advise him.
Dot

I wish they would prorogue parliament for a full year and then, maybe people would see that we get along just fine without more regulation and laws. If only we could dock their pay…Three cheers for an end to centralized government!

Proroguing Parliament doesn’t matter to most Canadians,only the Liberals and their toadies in the MSM care at all.

The Liberal statements are absurd in view of the history of proroguing, mostly done by Liberal PM’s.

The Liberals are desperate for an “issue” because they don’t have an appealing or credible candidate for PM in the Party right now, their platform when it’s even mentioned,doesn’t resonate with voters.

Whether it’s Afghan “detainees”, proroguing, or whatever other issue they can dream up, Canadians simply won’t bite.

At first I was not in favour with the decision to porogue Parliamentuntil I saw the number of days they will be out. If listening to the media you would think it was close to 3 months. But when one actually counts the number of days it sounds more reasonable. The Liberals are using this to their advantage hope it back fires.

Mr. Harper has done the right thing in this case. It may seem self serving to many but it is in the best interest of the Country. The Liberal crowd in the senate are preventing legislation duly passed by Parliament, and in at least one case, unanimously.
The Liberals will never support reforms in the senate that may change their special privileges.
Harper can now return with the senate committes reworked to reduce the ability of Liberal senators to disrupt legislation passed in the commons, and reintroduce the legislative items that died due to shutting down Parliament for a relatively short time.

I really don’t follow politics that much because there isn’t much to follow. Suffice it to say that from where I sit Harper can do whatever he pleases as there is really no opposition. So to prorogue parlament now or later makes no difference to me. Just keep our taxes down and I’ll be happy.

Maybe Prime Minister Harper can now appoint the much needed conservative senators so that the Liberal majority Senate can no longer hold up the bills that the house has passed. This is what I call undemocratic.

Ignatieff is still wearing his tutu dancing around in feigned outrage over prorogration. I believe parliament was prorogued so that some of the bills the Commons sent to the Senate could get passed rather than being emasculated. I applaud that.

The real reason for proroguing Parliament is that it had come to a virtual impasse anyway because the Liberal controlled Senate, an unelected body, had the audacity to sit on at least thirty bills passed by the Commons, some with unanimous support from all parties. The Senate, like the British House of Lords, has the right to amend bills and even to reject them, thereby sending them back to the Commons for further consideration; but when the bill is presented to them the third time, amended or in its original form, the Senate must “take its medicine” and pass the bill. Without this rule of law Canada cannot be a democracy because an unelected body cannot thwart the will of a democratically elected assembly. To sit on a bill with neither a debate nor a vote, as the Senate has done, is dictatorial and arrogant. This being the case, why would Harper not want to wait until there are enough Conservatives in the Senate to carry on?

I agree with Louis, it is too bad that the legislation can’t proceed. However, I also agree that the Liberals are desperate for an issue. So, it seems, is the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star, who are setting their hair on fire over the Facebook Canadians against prorogation site.

How hard would it be to set up a facebook Canadians FOR prorogation site? Wonder if the Star and Globe would give that as much free advertisement?

Rex Murphy is great as usual. Wonder why he left the Globe and joined the National Post? Bet there is a story there somewhere. Any ideas anyone?

I believe that the PM will hit the street running in March with a “killer” Throne Speech and budget.

With a change in control in the Senate, I also think the CPC will come back with all of the ongoing legislative prerogatives and priorities they have had, eg, tough-on-crime legislation, that have languished in HOC committees and the Liberal-dominated Senate to date.

Canadians will see an even more serious-minded PM & Cabinet than have prevailed to date and will therefore have a clear choice concerning whom it is they wish to lead the country.

Until the Libs step up to the plate with a policy platform, (preferably one crafted from the inputs of LPC members at a LPC Policy Convention if that’s not to frighteningly democratic for the LPC) Canadians won’t see the LPC as trustworthy. Who can remember what the Libs stand for other than NOT Stephen Harper and the CPC.

While I don’t disagree with the decision, the Conservatives fully botched a media opportunity. Instead of not speaking up and letting the wingnuts paint them in whatever manner they chose (dictatorship), they could have come out and said, “look we know that the chair fillers are going to go to the Olympics on your dime anyway, so we prorogued to avoid you getting stabbed in the wallet to have MPs fly back to Ottawa exec class, only to fly out of Ottawa in a week or so anyway. That should save taxpayers over two grand per MP, so we chose to be fiscally responsible. You’re welcome.”

But they didn’t. And got hammered for it. More fools they.

I think the PM made the right decision. Yes there was legislation that got left behind but that can be brought forward again and maybe with a majority senate it will actually get passed. Delaying parliament for 5 weeks will also give the liberals more time to dig a deeper hole for them selves.

Wow….If your best argument is “the Liberals did it”, please remove me from your e-mail list. Hopefully before you come out in support of an adscam type initiative. Thank you.

Just remember people, the louder and longer the liberanos/left wing nuts cry whine and squeel, we know we’re doing the right things.

It is still undemocratic and sets a bad precedent. And I wish the Parliament would ignore the Olympics, one gigantic waste of money and boondoggle. It is just a bunch of people playing games. The Parliament has real business to do, and taking time off just because a gigantic waste of money has been spent on an event that last 16 days is a dumb reason to not act as legislators.

With that sad I am happy we can get the witch hunt against our troops behind us.

Why are Harper and his supporters so mean spirited and hateful.
The basic message is that like it or lump it, if anyone disagrees
with your position you label them gripers, or even worse and then
talk about winning a majority. How do you expect to achieve this
when you consider everyone who doesn’t agree with you to be an
enemy. It seems like you have a desire to have Canada become more
like the United States, if so, wouldn’t it just be easier for
you to move there? Harper fooled some of us for a while, but
when his true nature is revealed most are repulsed and he
is only left with his base supporters (about 28%) and for
that reason will never win a majority, Thank God.

If this web-site is as one would assume by it’s name, National Citizens Coalition. How can so many people come here and support the current government’s misuse of prorogal to avoid it’s responsibilities. If Canada has indeed violated the Geneva Conventions, and allowed POWs to be handed over for abuse or torture, it seriously tarnishes Canada’a proud history in my opinion. And, equally important, I think it’s an insult to Canadian Veterans, living and deceased. To question this government’s knowledge of this issue is NOT an attack on our brave troops, but rather a way to support them. The Conservatives HAVE TO own this. Their motives are in question, not the Troops. Mr. Harper would like you to believe otherwise because this is HIS GOV’T'S error. His gov’t slipped up. Instead, he implies that the Troops are at fault if you question his authority. If he simply would have come clean in an open, honest ,accountable way, as he once promised voters, and admitted there had been problems, this issue would have fizzled out. Instead he chose to shut out the voices of MPs across Canada that represent approx 70% of Canadians. It should come as no suprise to anyone why people are starting to refer to Canada as a dictatorship.

P.S. Have another look at those poll numbers. Have a great day everyone.

As a result of his experiences as PM, Harper is learning to adapt his political agenda to the realities of democratic pluralism and minority government. His pragmatism is dangerous because he is a clever tactician. He will skilfully use the existing system to get what he wants, and what he wants is the dismantling of government impediments to business. What strikes me as equally dangerous, although it may prove to be his Achilles heel, is his penchant for centralizing power, which is indicative of a mildly paranoiac, over-controlling personality. That’s completely unacceptable in a national leader.

The paradox of democracy is that it’s a means to power, but it frustrates the exercise of power. That’s what Harper’s experiencing right now, and his frustration makes him vulnerable to political mistakes, like prorogation.

Wow…is all I can say after reading some of the comments here. I’m not affilicated with any party and have voted Conservative and Liberal in the past. Rather than following along blindly, I try to vote for the person I think best to lead. I’ve been reading opinions from both sides of the proroguing of parliament issue. For the most part, a number of people here need to do their homework. Those bills to go to the Senate without being “emasculated” have to start over again. More than half the bills started are dead in the water. Not a very good use of time paid for with tax dollars. I haven’t seen a single person accuse Canadian soldiers of torture. The comments seem to be around the government’s knowledged that these detainees were handed over Afghan authorities, who may have tortured them. If this is not the case, then why not clear it up, why the need to hide? People with nothing to hide, hide nothing. The use of proroguation to stop the democratic process is the straw that broke the camel’s back. Now the light is being shone in a number of dark corners…and many don’t like what they are seeing (thus the huge drop in the polls). Take the time to do your homework. An educated voter, is the best voter!

Don’t insult your readers with this sort of propaganda.

It is now clear to everyone except die-hard neoCons that Harper has sold out his own party and now he is selling out his country. Nearly half of conservatives voted against him when he was elected party leader in 2004 (check the records). He was elected Prime Minister(against the will of nearly 2 thirds–over 62%–of Canadian voters) on the promise that he would bring transparency and accountability to our government.

Instead, he has brought complete disorder, confusion, and cynicism. Despite the fact that 4 out of 5 parties in parliament have expressed willingness to work together, and despite the fact that these parties collectively represent the democratic majority of the leaders we have democratically elected, the Harper govt still lies to conservatives, telling them that his opponents are anti-democratic. His government has been caught in scandal after scandal, and every time they do the same thing: close the doors and refuse to communicate with citizens until their spindoctors have found enough loopholes to lie to conservatives and disguise their activity as “free speech” or “libertarian economics.”

I have even heard reports from conservative student groups of being silenced by the Party when they attempted to express their own views. And now they are denying that they even know who Tom Flanagan is!!

This is the sort of behaviour we might expect from the Stalinists. It has no place in a party that prides itself on freedom, truth, and accountability.

By the way…there is a Facebook group Canadians FOR Proroguing Parliament. They currently have less than 500 members, which may explain the lack of media attention, especially when compared to the almost 200,000 members of the group that appose it.

Leave it to the NCC to want to close Parliament long term — you’re the same guys who basically want to turn Canada into a neo-con elitist state.

Well no thanks, I don’t believe in abandoning my own people, nor do I believe in giving away my liberty.