Liberal Party radio and print ads say Prime Minister Stephen Harper has “something to hide” and that’s why he decided to shut down Parliament. Harper government draws fire for suspending Parliament and how many times have I rightfully said that the Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s managerial skills are one step forward and two steps backwards, and I can always count on him to shoot himself and his party in the foot. PM Stephen Harper has to shut down Parliament costing us taxpayers their salary while they are on vacation because he says he needs to think about what to do next, clearly his leadership is unsatisfactory. Some of the Conservative MPs have given different reasons than “resetting the agenda” – from needing a majority to senate to needing the time off to spend at the Olympics. Their Boss the PM keeps them in the dark too cause he does not trust them now as well to do the right thing so he also gives them time off from work. Everyone needs to go to work tomorrow and tell their boss that they need 2 months vacation time to set your own work schedule for the next year…. and there would be no wonder as to what your boss would say.. he would give you the pink slip.. fire you. FIRE HARPER RIGHTFULLY NOW TOO.
Vent outrage at your local MP Toronto Star – People are asking what they can do to counter Stephen Harper’s decision to suspend Parliament. … Demand instead that he or she vote against the government when Parliament resumes in March and bring Harper down.
Linda Harris is unimpressed with Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s move to prorogue Parliament. Harris is one of 64,000 individuals who have joined a group on the Internet social networking site Facebook protesting the move and urging MPs to return to work as scheduled.The page, entitled Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament, started Dec. 30 and has gained nation-wide attention with thousands joining each day. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=260348091419
‘They’re not fooling anyone’ Globe and Mail – If it had been just another Wednesday afternoon, Stephen Harper’s decision to prorogue Parliament until the beginning of March would … Le Devoir, Manon Cornellier agreed that although “Mr. Harper has not broken any rules, [….] he nevertheless has shown a disregard for our democratic institutions.” Ms. Cornellier called Mr. Harper’s decision to shut down Parliament an attempt to avoid having to submit to the “constraints of democracy.” She accused the Prime Minister of trying to avoid “such disagreeable tasks as being accountable and transparent, and respecting the will of the majority of parliament.” Ms. Cornellier went on to contend that, if Canadians read an article about the leader of another country behaving in a similar manner, “we would conclude that the country was an autocratic state or a banana republic.”
Opposition parties object to postponement of Parliament for 2 months The Gazette (Montreal) Prime Minister Stephen Harper has decided to shut down Parliament for two months, a move swiftly condemned by opposition parties as a way to halt investigations into the torture of Afghan detainees. Bloc Quebecois house leader Michel Guimond said Harper had no legitimate reason to suspend Parliament and the decision constitutes an affront to democracy.
Readers upset with Harper government’s decision to prorogue Parliament Daily Gleaner With Harper proroguing the government for two years in a row, there is little doubt the Canadian taxpayer has paid a whole year of salaries and incidental costs for a Canadian government and a Canadian Senate which has essentially accomplished nothing.Or maybe better said, anything which was accomplished was just wiped out by Stephen Harper with the closing of government.
“Parliament shutdown wasteful, undemocratic January 3, 2010 I urge all MPs to return to work on the scheduled date of Jan. 25. If the doors are locked, march right down to Rideau Hall and demand access to Parliament. This is our house. The Harper Conservatives are in defiance of the law. They seek to shut down Parliament to suppress information needed by the parliamentary committee to get to the truth behind the torture of Afghan citizens. They accuse anyone who seeks this information of failure to support the troops. No one has accused the troops of anything. Accused are Stephen Harper, Peter MacKay and other political figures. All of the work currently pending in Parliament will be lost. That means we just paid top dollar for the “best and brightest” to accomplish nothing — all so Harper can attend the Olympics and no one can ask questions about the degradation of our democracy, the continued concentration of power in the Prime Minister’s Office, the corruption of the RCMP and the throttling of freedom of information. Kim Poirier Victoria” http://www.timescolonist.com/sports/Parliament+shutdown+wasteful+undemocratic/2401221/story.html
“It’s almost despotic,” Tories trying to ‘shut down democracy,’ “Three times in three years and twice within one year, the prime minister takes this extraordinary step to muzzle Parliament. This time it’s a cover-up of what the Conservatives knew, and when they knew it, about torture in Afghanistan. So their solution is not to answer the questions but, rather, to padlock Parliament and shut down democracy.” Liberal MP Goodale says.. What a bunch of manipulative cowards. Proroguing parliament until March? Unbelievable and certainly not in the interest of the country. But since when did this government do anything in the interest of the country? They only look out for themselves and their friends in high places (i.e. big business). Harper He is over due for a permanent Vacation. He makes the mere mention of the word Democracy sound dirty. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/12/30/parliament-prorogation-harper.html
For the second time in 12 months, Stephen Harper is successfully brushing aside an inconvenient, embarrassing opposition Parliament. Last year it was suspended to save his government from the almost certain coalition defeat. Now it’s to provide paid view of the winter games, the Vancouver Olympics but more basically to obstruct the further parliamentary probing of the very politically damaging Afghanistan prisoner abuse. The Prime Minister won’t be facing those very awkward questions anytime soon.
Harper simply telephoned his own puppet, the person he hired, the pretentious Governor-General Michaëlle Jean with his next granted prorogue request and so our Parliament will be closed for much of 2010’s first quarter, proving that Harper’s own standards of parliamentary accountability and democracy are a big, unacceptable sham too……
Canada’s minority government Prime Minister Stephen Harper is too happy to play games with the taxpayer’s money and Parliament, for while he now shuts down the opposition for a few months again, note this they all still do get paid, for restaurants, their travelling, their too often phony expenses..
and imagine that free all paid vacations 5 months happening next in the private sector too? Never you say? Why do you all allow it in Ottawa then?
Grassroots fury greets shuttered Parliament Toronto Star -OTTAWA–Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision to shut down Parliament for the next two months is facing a growing public uprising, which is building on social networks across Canada and is set to spill over in dozens of protest rallies this month.
Prorogation won’t halt bill to scrap gun registry CTV.ca
Prorogue ‘slap in the face’: Rudd Belleville Intelligencer – The Liberal candidate running in Quinte West in the next federal election has slammed a move by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to prorogue Parliament until March.
Harper’s way a ‘dark way’ Orillia Packet & Times
Harper prorogues Parliament, Canadians sigh Examiner.com – Amidst crumpled wrapping paper, Christmas pudding and stocking stuffers, Prime Minister Stephen Harper pulled his very own Christmas cracker on Canadians …
‘Should the PM have the Power of Kings?’ – MP Hyer Net Newsledger In what is becoming an annual tradition, Stephen Harper has chosen to unilaterally prorogue (suspend) Parliament until March. …
This prime minister is thoroughly partisan The Kingston Whig-Standard – Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s unprecedented action in proroguing Parliament for the second time in a year means that some 35 pieces of pending legislation …
Used, abused and confused: jargon ’09 Edmonton Sun “Prorogue” was forced into Canadians’ consciousness 12 months ago, when Prime Minister Stephen Harper had to force Parliament to take a time out for having …
Critics say anger is growing over PM’s ‘imperial’ style Toronto Star – Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision to once again suspend Parliament is being regarded by critics as a self-serving attempt to sidestep opposition …
Travers: Stephen Harper’s dark democracy creates dangerous legacy Toronto Star – Stephen Harper understood that in opposition. As a Reformer he preached the gospel of parliamentary primacy. As a Conservative leader using memories of …
Harper undermining democracy at home Victoria Times Colonist We Canadians have spent billions bringing democracy to Afghanistan. When we asked our elected representatives to make inquiries as to exactly what was going on in Afghanistan, Stephen Harper closed Parliament. What sort of democracy is this? Harper was so contemptuous of Parliament that he stopped his MPs from even attending the committee struck to enquire about the treatment of Afghan citizens after Canadian troops handed them over to Afghan authorities. Now he has closed Parliament to stop the truth emerging. This is our country, not his private club.
Only you can stop the political plunge Victoria Times Colonist – Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision to shut down Parliament for his own partisan convenience — no more nasty questions about Afghan detainees, no more challenges from a “Liberal-dominated Senate” — is shocking, but hardly surprising. It is an expression of this prime minister’s contempt not just for Parliament, but for government. So much for those urgent Tory crime measures that will die on the order paper; so much for an adult debate on the deficit, or pension reform or Afghanistan after 2011.
Will public stand for parliamentary holiday? Burnaby Now – There’s already a perception that work in Ottawa happens at a snail’s pace, and, after last year’s prorogation to avoid a non-confidence vote, it’s looking more and more like Harper makes decisions about Parliament based on what works best for him, not for Canada. Slipping this decision in over the holiday – when many Canadians are too busy travelling or celebrating to pay much attention to the news – may have avoided some public consternation over the delay. But as the rest of the country gets back to business, the question is now being raised: Why aren’t our MPs back at work, too?
Suspending Parliament ‘deplorable’: Julian Burnaby Now – “This is the fourth time he has shut down Parliament in four years. He seems to have a casual disregard for the work of Parliament, and the reality is he’s now killing 35 government bills in doing this,”
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