Harper gets his Prorogue, Non-confidence Vote Delayed

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Harper gets his Prorogue, Non-confidence Vote Delayed

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Canadian PM likely to go ahead with Dec 8 session, inevitable demise of minority Conservatives

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Governor General Michaëlle Jean has granted Prime Minister Stephen Harper his one wish.  She has suspended the current parliamentary session until January 27th and squashed, for now at least, the possibility of a Liberal-NDP coalition.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/12/04/harper-jean.html

Both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Liberal Opposition leader Stéphane Dion took to the airwaves last night to address Canadians.  Both presented their respective case regarding the current political and economic crisis brewing here in Canada.  Over the past several days parliamentary squabbling has reached an almost unprecedented head; a breaking point that threatened to topple the Harper regime. 

Harper’s government has lost the confidence of the Canadian Parliament.  The Liberal, NDP, and Bloc parties see Harper’s tabled economic recovery plan as unacceptable and inadequate and are not prepared to support it.  Dion has apparently already met with Governor General Michaëlle Jean on the issue of a possible coalition government – one formed between the Liberal and NDP parties and with the support of the Bloc. 

Likewise, Harper and Jean met this morning.  Harper pled his case and asked that Jean prorogue – or delay the current parliamentary session – until the end of January, at which time the Tories plan to table a new budget.  She has agreed to do so. 

Jean had a few options here – her hands were by no means tied in terms of her constitutional allowance here.  Three possible futures for parliament and Canadians were possible:

1.)     Jean grants Harper his one wish, Parliament is suspended, the Tories avoid a no confidence vote set for Monday.  Harper works day and night to build support for his budget proposal at the end of January.  During this almost two month period no government spending can take place and no major decisions can be made – the government will operate as they do during campaign and election times.  At the end of January the Tory budget is tabled.

2.)     Jean denies Harper and decides to dissolve parliament, call an election, and force Canadians back to the polls for the second time in mere months.

3.)     Jean denies Harper and offers the Liberal-NDP coalition the chance to form the government.

Alternative future #1 has come to fruition.  It is, however, important to remember that on January 27th, when regular parliamentary proceedings resume, the Conservatives will present their budget to parliament and, again, face the possibility of a non-confidence vote.  This means that in the next two months Harper has to garner enough support for the Tory budget to push it through a house vote – otherwise we’re back to square one and the possibility of a coalition government is revived.

Since the possibility still exists, it is worth discussing the coalition government further.  Many Canadians (including Mr. Harper) seem to be misunderstanding the nature of a coalition government.  Harper claims it is undemocratic and does not represent the results of the most recent election, that which put Harper’s Tories back in power.  This is incorrect.  If the coalition is allowed to govern the make-up of parliament remains exactly as it was – and this, in the Canadian electoral system, is the only thing that voters get to determine.  We vote for our MPs, who then get the opportunity to sit in parliament and represent our values.  The party which commands the largest number of seats is asked by the GG to form Canada’s government.  This offer, though, is rather conditional.  The government must retain the confidence of the house when passing bills, budgets, and laws – if it fails to do so, that is, if it cannot garner enough support from the remaining MPs in the house, it has not only lost the support of parliament but through electoral representation it has lost the support of the majority of Canadians.  This is what is happening right now and it is very much democratic.  Professor and once Vancouver center MP hopeful Michael Byers explains it well,

What is undemocratic is the suspension of normal parliamentary proceedings and the silencing of the voices of MPs Canadians chose to represent them.

Harper’s other major argument against a coalition government, as presented to Canadians last night, is his distain for separatists.  His feelings here are understandable, especially coming from a westerner, but it is important to realize a few things; first, the Bloc is not a part of the coalition – Duceppe merely agreed to support it in the house;

and second, Duceppe represents a number of non-separatists as well and this is a perfect way for him to stifle that debate for a while a focus on getting some of his other non Canada-splitting goals through.

 The suspension of parliament really means one thing for me: nothing of significance will be accomplished in the near future to address the current economic crisis.  While other governments are passing drastic measures to secure a solid economic future ours is going to take a two month time-out in the corner and think about what it has done, like a team of misbehaving delinquents.  When parliament resumes, in all likelihood the Harper government will still face non-confidence.