Prorogation — It's Ok When Liberals Do It

November 10, 2003. Jean Chretien prorogues the Parliament (a majority Parliament, by the way) on the eve of the Liberal leadership convention - that's perfectly fine. Chretien extends Christmas break by 5 weeks, just so the Liberals could have a 3-day convention - nobody is eager to complain about that. Nobody is eager to gather at the gates of the locked Parliament building to protest the prolonged recess; nobody is eager to "make the Parliament work".

This was already a second prorogation for the 37th Parliament; the previous one had taken place just 14 months prior - still I don't recall anyone accusing Jean Chretien of padlocking the Parliament. The committees got disbanded - including the one that later reported on the Sponsorship scandal - did anyone complain about Jean Chretien undermining the power of elected representatives? Of course not! Jean Chretien was merely using his perfectly legal right via his democratically endowed powers as Prime Minister to reset the agenda, so that his successor could start a fresh new session at the Parliament Hill.

December 30, 2009. Stephen Harper prorogues the Parliament, (this time - a minority Parliament) until after the Olympics, extending Christmas break by 5 weeks. What a terrible thing to do! He's playing politics! He's undermining the power of elected representatives! He wants to silence the committees! We ought to protest this dictator-like behavior! Twit about it! Join the facebook group! Draw a cartoon - Parliament building with a huge padlock on it - that's what Harper's rule looks like! And let's all gather at the steps of the padlocked Parliament and make the Parliament work - without that evil dictator Harper. (He's evil I tell you!!! Evil!!!)

February 9, 2010. Dalton McGuinty announces his plans to prorogue the Ontario Parliament (a majority Parliament,) until after the Olympics. Where are those Facebook groups? How about the rallies? I'm looking forward to reading the endless editorials taking Dalton to task. Yeah right.

“Prorogation has been an important and respected parliamentary tool for centuries. But it's important that you don't abuse that.”

Got it? It's ok as long as you don't abuse that. Dalton McGuinty doesn't - instead of giving MPPs a continuous break from Christmas until after the Olympics, he's summoning the Parliament for a brief session and only then he's going to let Ontario's legislators have their break. That makes a lot of difference, doesn't it?

“There will be a limited break. You can't introduce a throne speech unless you have a break,” he said.

“That's just the rule. But we will preserve every single one of our bills. Nothing will be lost.”

So, when the Liberals prorogue the Parliament - it's the rule. It's something that must be done, so that the government could reset its agenda and start over with the new Throne speech. When the Conservatives do it - that's playing politics and suppressing the opposition.

By the way - judging from the same Globe and Mail article, BC legislature too won't be sitting during the olympics. No, there will be no prorogation there, but the Legislature simply won't be sitting during the games. (Guess what party holds the majority of seats there.) I wonder if the opposition NDP MLAs are going to have a protest rally at the closed doors of the Legislative Assembly building.