It's Party Time!

This is my favourite quote from a CPC MP on the current progation of Canadian Parliament:

""Democracy and Parliament are not being sidestepped — they are only being suspended."

Well, gosh, doesn't that make you feel better? Me neither.

But that's what St. Albert M.P. Brent Rathgeber said in response to queries from his local paper.

Whether this maneuver has any lasting effect on the electoral fortunes of the current minority government remains to be seen. But it does seem to have struck a chord (hit a nerve?) with a whole bunch of jes' folks out there. The Facebook Group 'Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament' swells daily by 10s of thousands of joiners. I'm not very Facebook-y, but this seems pretty impressive.

And 'The Economist', which is not exactly 'The Socialist Worker' has deigned to raise an eyebrow Canada's way. It, too, is less than impressed.

John Ibbitson of the Globe initially touted the fact that Parliament and Democracy were 'only being suspended' as a 'Travesty, yet clever'. Today, however, he seems in a less admirable frame of mind.

It would also seem that a good many Canadians are taking a dim view of these shenanigans, judging by a couple of polls regarding prorogation taken in the last week. Something the PollCos probably didn't ask, but should have is:

1) Do you think the Government takes you for a complacent fool?

2) If yes, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being somewhat and 10 being completely daft, how much of a fool do they take you for?

And,

3) Can you tell us what 'recalibrate' means. Seriously. Because we here at PollCo haven't the foggiest idea.

All of this is accompanied by the usual slew of Conservative talking points:

"Members can spend more time in their constituencies'. Gosh, I though they were elected to go to Ottawa to provide representation for those constituencies.

"Chretien did it!" Indeed, three or four times. But only when the legislative slate was clean. Not once did he prorogue to run and hide, er, 'recalibrate'.

And, my, favourites, the one-two sucker punch of 'It's a perfectly legal and normal part of parliamentary democracy' combined with 'The media is biased'.

These assertion might carry a little more heft if they weren't so awesomely hypocritical.

Isn't a coalition, for example, 'democratic and legal'. And, in that case, was not every possible negative angle poked, prodded and examined by the biased jackals in the fourth estate?

Doubtless, the coalition move was odious to many. But that was in part due to equally inflammatory headlines parroting the government line about 'coups' and 'assaults on democracy' and whatnot.

Either all the tools of a parliamentary democracy are open to all parties, or they're not. It's willfully inconsistent to defend one while sanctimoniously whinging about another.

This sets a very dangerous precedent wherein the Government can prorogue strategically when the slogging gets tough for them. Double-plus un-good.