Opposition to Prime Minister Harper’s action in proroguing parliament not once, but twice during the present term of this minority government is understandable. The PM is accused of thwarting the will of the people for his own wicked political ends, which is infuriating, exasperating, irritating – or so the opposition and many editorial writers would have us believe, but is it unlawful? No, it is not.
Prime Ministers in previous parliaments have done the same thing, always for iniquitous political reasons, according to those who oppose them. The history of the British parliamentary system is stuffed with occasions when the government of the day shut down parliament. The practice goes back to beyond Cromwell and Monke to those scheming monarchs who would have it their way.
The opposition may be right by their own lights to slag off the government for its unsporting behaviour. It might be disreputable, mean-spirited and disgraceful, but it is neither unlawful nor dishonest. The PM is within his rights to shut down parliament to suit his agenda. If in power, those parties presently in opposition would do, and some have done, the same thing when it suited them.
Facebook opposition is quoted as evidence of dissent. It has reached a whopping 200,000 plus names, which is a paltry number. Given the population of Canada of around 30 million, that figure makes less than one per cent (0.67 per cent to be more precise).
The turn-out at rallies in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, Halifax et al (even Cobourg mustered a showing) totalling 20,000 at the most hardly constitutes a groundswell. Adding that number to those registering their opposition on Facebook, the percentage is still less than 1 per cent of the total population.
So opposition hype to prorogation amounts to little more than a gripe. Until parliament finds a legitimate way of putting a stop to the practice of shutting down the House, prime ministers will exercise their will to suit themselves. Amen
Tags: Politics