Perhaps there’s some confusion over our constitutional arrangements.
Her Majesty the Queen of Canada does not ‘rule’—rather, Her Majesty ‘reigns’. As much as many here would like to describe the prime minister’s request for prorogation as ‘undemocratic’, or any other number of delicious soundbites, the real fact of the matter is that prorogation is an administrative necessity for our system of Government to function appropriately. Yes, the prime minister’s motives for prorogation were questionable, but nonetheless it is the right (and properly so) of Her Majesty’s Government for Canada to lead Government business in both Houses of the Parliament of Canada. The Government’s actions are legitimate by the very fact that Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition, and the other opposition parties, have confirmed the democratic confidence of Canadians in this Government dozens of times during the previous session through the votes of the House of Commons.
I was being facetious not techical. And prorogation is there to serve the needs of the nation not the political needs of one party or even one man. It's the
role of the opposition to provide effective criticism of the government, even during WW II there was intense debate in the House over the policies of the King government, this at a time when thousands of Canadians were serving(and dying) overseas and U-Boats were coming as close to Ottawa as the St.Lawrence river. Dissolving Parliment because he can't handle the fallout of his own incompetence is abrogating the spirit if not the letter of the Parlimentary system, something Harper has shown less than clear respect for from the very start(evidenced by things like bringing on board a Liberal MP before the ballots had even cooled in 2006).
Playing around with the details while chipping away at the foundations of our Parlimentary system is disingenuous if not outright dishonest. We got rid of the Liberals for playing silly buggers with our government, it's more than time to do the same with the conservatives, especially since they claimed to be the remedy of this nonsense when they ran for
Parliment in 2006. Let's not forget that we don't elect a Prime Minister, we elect a Parliment whose membership determines who will form the government. with no Parliment we have no government, a concept that Harper seems to have a very difficult time understanding.
He's now talking about major reforms like abolishing the senate and other withspread changes to our system, considering the black hole that the PMO has become under the current administration I find it problematic that such important changes are being contemplated in this political environment.
