Rogue Elephant in the Room
"Our Parliament has become the most dysfunctional in the English-speaking world, weaker and more irrelevant than the U.S. Congress or the parliaments of Britain, Australia or New Zealand."
Writing his second or third editorial in recent days decrying Harper's proroguing of Parliament, John Ibbitson begins today by calling our government on bare life support.
It is a very strong piece and it includes the thoughts of a number of concerned and informed citizens.
This is not just some passing annoyance of the season.
This move by the Prime Minister is indicative of a government and a population that is asleep.
It is dangerous and ugly to behold.
I am not for one second suggesting that Iggy Pop or Marvin the Moustache would be the slightest improvement. They absolutely do not warrant a shot at the head seat at the table.
But while everyone is trying to jog off the Christmas turkey and pretend to be a part of the Big Games party next month, the country has been hijacked by arrogance and power.
This is not a recognizable democratic form.
Then only good news is that Harper's ploy is backfiring.
Hundreds of thousands of Canadians have joined a Facebook protest called Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament. The group is planning a nation-wide set of public rallies on Jan. 23d.
4 comments:
and then there is this in The Economist:
http://www.economist.com/world/americas/displayStory.cfm?story_id=15211862&source=most_commented
Ron H
Hey David, you forgot to mention the hijacking by arrogance and power during the Jean Chretien days up there on the Hill in Ottawa ! Come to think about it a little more, I'm even old enough to remember the hijacking by Pierre Elliot Trudeau too.
Parliament has been prorogued 105 times, including four times by Liberal Prime Minister Jean Cretien.
I never trusted this guy but as time went by I began to think I had judged him too harshly. I am thinking that the only reason we haven't seen his true colours is because he has never had a majority government. So what if there have been other prorogues - he is the *present* Prime Minister and we need to pay attention.
June
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