No fewer than three premiers, B.C.’s Christy Clark among them, have shuttered their legislatures this fall, all to serve their partisan interests — in actions reminiscent of Stephen Harper’s 2008 and 2009 prorogations of Parliament.
And for the second time this year, Harper’s government disgracefully has introduced an unwieldy omnibus budget bill. It is more than 440 pages in length and features far more than budgetary provisions.
Such hydra-headed chunks of legislation, again inspired by a government pursuing partisan advantage, don’t allow proper scrutiny by our politicians.
They give opposition parties scant opportunity to register opposition to any single aspect of the massive bill because votes are held, holus-bolus, on the entire bill.
Governments use them to quickly and conveniently ram through an agenda.
Harper himself used to rail against them while in Opposition.
Conservatives tabled their second omnibus bill a week ago in the Commons, aimed at implementing their March budget.
Ludicrously it includes, of all things, legislation governing navigation in Canadian waterways.
They did this in disregard of a Commons furor last spring when they introduced a similar bill.
But when only 61 per cent of us bother to vote, political leaders figure they can get away with this sort of thing.
And so far they have.
The Commons endorsed a motion in March of 2010, introduced by then-NDP leader Jack Layton, to prevent Parliament from proroguing for longer than seven days unless supported by MPs. But such motions are non-binding on the government.
Referring to Harper, University of Toronto political scientist Nelson Wiseman has written: “No prime minister has so abused the power to prorogue.”
The Ottawa-based public watchdog group Democracy Watch is now calling on Canadians to mobilize through petitions and letter writing campaigns to let the Harper crowd know that arbitrary prorogation isn’t cricket.
The group noted that in Britain, Australia and New Zealand, the constitution and/or legislation dictates when legislatures must convene.
This contrasts with the current situation in B.C., where Premier Clark last month cancelled a scheduled seven-week fall sitting of the legislature, having complained earlier about Victoria’s “sick” political culture.
It’s conceivable the chamber will remain closed until a May 2013 provincial election, a situation that will help the unpopular premier avoid potential controversy and pesky criticisms leading up to the vote.
Many may dismiss the importance of their legislatures being dark, a relief from theatrical displays of a bunch of windbags perhaps.
But this is where accountability happens, where leaders and ministers, who carry out their work privately, must respond to questions about public spending and decision making, where opposition MPs can play some modest role in governance.
Canadians have become lazy about their democracy. University of Waterloo research shows a public malaise with respect to how we’re governed.
Less than half — 47.9 per cent — of Canadians in 2010 reported feeling a great deal or a lot of confidence in Parliament.
Almost one third of respondents said they’re not satisfied with how Canada’s democracy is working.
When Harper prorogued Parliament in 2008 — to avoid a non-confidence vote being plotted by a hastily arranged opposition coalition — public protests and petitions were inspired mainly by a notion the politicians weren’t working for their pay, nearly $160,000 a year for an ordinary MP.
That prorogation in retrospect was but a harbinger for a foolishly complacent citizenry. Canadians may just be getting the democracy they deserve.
Original Article
Source: calgary herald
Author: Barbara Yaffe
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