[bootlegga]

Lemmy Lemmy:

I support the prorogation of parliament. When the government isn't in session, they're not capable of causing much damage. I fear politicians more when they're working.

Funny cause it's true!

[kenmore]

Interesting; While Canada was on the hot seat in Copenhagen because of Conservative failure on the environment, while Harper and his Conservatives were under attack for their cover-up in the Afghan torture scandal and while more than 1.6 million of Canadians are out of work and the deficit hit a new record, Stephen Harper thought he would sneak a fast one by you. He thought he could shut down Parliament while you weren’t paying attention.

[Akhenaten]

$1:

He thought he could shut down Parliament while you weren’t paying attention.

Like all the previous prorogues....all 104 of them. Yes yes I know. Everyone's suddenly and expert on prorogues and can come tell you without a doubt that no PM....NO PM's ever abused them in the past by timing them to suit their needs.

Nope. No one. Ever.

People be honest here: Has anyone ever heard of prorogue before Harper came along? What's that? You say that the media never freaked out when Chretien did it so that's why you didn't hear about it so that proves it wasn't being abused?

Fuck people are stupid. Before Harper no one ever heard of prorogue because before Harper nobody ever made a stink about it. Now everyone's an expert all of a sudden.

"What's that? Prorogue? You mean they shut down the parliament? Gee that sounds like a vacation with pay....how come I don't get vacation with pay? [waitaminit I do but you know what I mean] Typical Steve Harper. Shutting down parliament like that. I mean "prorogue", phffft! Like that's ever been done before. "

[EyeBrock]

And kittens. He kills kittens too, the bastard. Closes parliament and spends the time killing kittens.

[PublicAnimalNo9]

EyeBrock EyeBrock:

And kittens. He kills kittens too, the bastard. Closes parliament and spends the time killing kittens.

Harper is related to Mcguinty?? Oh I get it, Harper kills 'em and McGuinty eats 'em. Now I understand

[2Cdo]

Akhenaten Akhenaten:

$1:

He thought he could shut down Parliament while you weren’t paying attention.

Like all the previous prorogues....all 104 of them. Yes yes I know. Everyone's suddenly and expert on prorogues and can come tell you without a doubt that no PM....NO PM's ever abused them in the past by timing them to suit their needs.

Nope. No one. Ever.

People be honest here: Has anyone ever heard of prorogue before Harper came along? What's that? You say that the media never freaked out when Chretien did it so that's why you didn't hear about it so that proves it wasn't being abused?

Fuck people are stupid. Before Harper no one ever heard of prorogue because before Harper nobody ever made a stink about it. Now everyone's an expert all of a sudden.

"What's that? Prorogue? You mean they shut down the parliament? Gee that sounds like a vacation with pay....how come I don't get vacation with pay? [waitaminit I do but you know what I mean] Typical Steve Harper. Shutting down parliament like that. I mean "prorogue", phffft! Like that's ever been done before. "

Brilliant and well said!

[Zipperfish]

Akhenaten Akhenaten:

Like all the previous prorogues....all 104 of them. Yes yes I know. Everyone's suddenly and expert on prorogues and can come tell you without a doubt that no PM....NO PM's ever abused them in the past by timing them to suit their needs.

Nope. No one. Ever.

People be honest here: Has anyone ever heard of prorogue before Harper came along? What's that? You say that the media never freaked out when Chretien did it so that's why you didn't hear about it so that proves it wasn't being abused?

Fuck people are stupid. Before Harper no one ever heard of prorogue because before Harper nobody ever made a stink about it. Now everyone's an expert all of a sudden.

"What's that? Prorogue? You mean they shut down the parliament? Gee that sounds like a vacation with pay....how come I don't get vacation with pay? [waitaminit I do but you know what I mean] Typical Steve Harper. Shutting down parliament like that. I mean "prorogue", phffft! Like that's ever been done before. "

Yes tiresome isn't it. Almost as tiresome as the endless "Well the Liberals did it too" every time Harper pulls an underhanded trick.

[Donny_Brasco]

$1:

What is the history of parliaments being "prorogued" in Canada?

It happens every time a session is over. It’s just the normal course of business. But as a method of escaping the judgment of parliament, I would think it’s quite unusual. That’s not what Mackenzie King was asking for in 1926 - he actually asked for a dissolution of Parliament. That’s the example (people) often like to use as a comparison.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/547915

[Akhenaten]

Zipperfish Zipperfish:

Akhenaten Akhenaten:

Like all the previous prorogues....all 104 of them. Yes yes I know. Everyone's suddenly and expert on prorogues and can come tell you without a doubt that no PM....NO PM's ever abused them in the past by timing them to suit their needs.

Nope. No one. Ever.

People be honest here: Has anyone ever heard of prorogue before Harper came along? What's that? You say that the media never freaked out when Chretien did it so that's why you didn't hear about it so that proves it wasn't being abused?

Fuck people are stupid. Before Harper no one ever heard of prorogue because before Harper nobody ever made a stink about it. Now everyone's an expert all of a sudden.

"What's that? Prorogue? You mean they shut down the parliament? Gee that sounds like a vacation with pay....how come I don't get vacation with pay? [waitaminit I do but you know what I mean] Typical Steve Harper. Shutting down parliament like that. I mean "prorogue", phffft! Like that's ever been done before. "

Yes tiresome isn't it. Almost as tiresome as the endless "Well the Liberals did it too" every time Harper pulls an underhanded trick.

I can understand that, but with respect Zip, sometimes it's "Well the Librals did it too", and sometimes it's "Well look at all the times it's been done in the past". It's one thing to just bring up the liberals to try and deflect it's something else entirely to bring up previous prorogues just so we can get a relative comparasion in order to gauge whether or not this is, "The end of the world" or just crass political maneuver.

[FieryVulpine]

kenmore kenmore:

Interesting; While Canada was on the hot seat in Copenhagen because of Conservative failure on the environment, while Harper and his Conservatives were under attack for their cover-up in the Afghan torture scandal and while more than 1.6 million of Canadians are out of work and the deficit hit a new record, Stephen Harper thought he would sneak a fast one by you. He thought he could shut down Parliament while you weren’t paying attention.

Oh Kenny, what will you say next?

[Zipperfish]

Akhenaten Akhenaten:

I can understand that, but with respect Zip, sometimes it's "Well the Librals did it too", and sometimes it's "Well look at all the times it's been done in the past". It's one thing to just bring up the liberals to try and deflect it's something else entirely to bring up previous prorogues just so we can get a relative comparasion in order to gauge whether or not this is, "The end of the world" or just crass political maneuver.

I just wish they would just quit fucking around and start trying to run the country.

There are a whole number of reasons this one stands out--and it does stand out despite protestations of business as usual, as evidenced by the "legs" the story has proven to have in the press.

You say "Fuck people are stupid." I don't agree that they are. I think they know when they're being played.

[Akhenaten]

Zipperfish Zipperfish:

You say "Fuck people are stupid." I don't agree that they are. I think they know when they're being played.

Well I also said it was a crass political maneuver.

$1:

There are a whole number of reasons this one stands out--and it does stand out despite protestations of business as usual, as evidenced by the "legs" the story has proven to have in the press.

There are a whole lot of reasons why this stands out. I think you can only say that because you, me and the guy next to you were never paying attention to previous prorogues. That it has a lot of traction in the press is just life immitating art. There's only a Facebook page because of a lot of globe and mail blogs, and the FB site only has this many members because it got more traction on other networks including tv. Story wouldn't have gotten anywhere if Lindsy Lowhan broke out of rehab or some one off their meds kicked a puppy to death.

I don't think the media is bias towards anything but making you read them. Sensationalism, whatever it takes. The Globe and Mail over the past weeks has had the lack of shame to run opinion pieces, editorials and blogs as their front-running story for 3 weeks now. THey hype, then the partisans hype, then they hype some more.

As to "a whole number of reasons this one stands out" I really have to wonder why you say that. Why? How exactly do you know? Is there a web site I'm missing that applies cynical reasoning to every proruge there's been? How do you know Pearson never prorogued to time some political maneuver? Since not much was made of it when Chretien did it to avoid this inquiry or that, how do you know Mulroney didn't do something similar? Or anyone else.

I suppose one could take that lack of info or insight currently out there on other prorogues and why they may have come about at the time that they did as a sign that maybe they weren't abused before Chretien/Harper came around. On the other hand though, I simply find it too hard to believe, given the rules they way they are and the nature of politics, that if the PM get's to set the date/timing, then the PM will set a date/time that best suits their interest, for anynumber of reasons.

A lot of people/articels/blogs out there condemning this as the end of our democracy that are suspiciously devoid of any examples beside the last 10 years and I don't think that's because there aren't any.

[hurley_108]

The reason this prorogue is so visible is because of one thing: coalition. Last year, there was the agreement for a Liberal-NDP coalition. This was, I'm sure no one will disagree, newsworthy. It was a 100-year political storm. But they needed the vote of no-confidence to topple the Conservative government and get themselves asked to form a government in their place. So how did Harper dodge the vote and keep his job? Prorogue. In amongst the buzz about coalition, how could that prorogue possibly go unnoticed? See my post above about the spike in Google searches on the word. That broke it out of the realm of constitutional obscurity.

Now, this one may not be so very unique amongst the others in history, but the cat had been let out of the bag last year, even though nobody (least of all, it would seem, Harper) knew it.

So is it fair for this to backfire of Harper like it has? Maybe, maybe not. But this is entirely of his own making.

[Akhenaten]

hurley_108 hurley_108:

The reason this prorogue is so visible is because of one thing: coalition. Last year, there was the agreement for a Liberal-NDP coalition. This was, I'm sure no one will disagree, newsworthy. It was a 100-year political storm. But they needed the vote of no-confidence to topple the Conservative government and get themselves asked to form a government in their place. So how did Harper dodge the vote and keep his job? Prorogue. In amongst the buzz about coalition, how could that prorogue possibly go unnoticed? See my post above about the spike in Google searches on the word. That broke it out of the realm of constitutional obscurity.

I definitely agree that the last one was unprecedented. A lot more extreme.

[Zipperfish]

Akhenaten Akhenaten:

As to "a whole number of reasons this one stands out" I really have to wonder why you say that. Why? How exactly do you know?

Well, one reason would be that last year's proroguing of Parliament was so high-profile, so people were already kind of attuned. Secondly, he announced when Canada's hockey team was being announced--too cute by half. Thirdly, it looks like they're just trying to dodge this Afghanistan torture inquiry--which they have botched from the start, but that's another story--so it looks like they're running away as opposed to walking away.

The media pushes stories all the time that don't go anywhere--I remember all four major dailies in Vancouver pushing Canadians to support invading Iraq, but that didn't go anywhere. I don't buy that the so-called MSM call the tunes myself.

I'm not that excited about it, don't get me wrong. Like I said, I just wish they'd quit fucking around and get to work.