Today thousands of Canadians showed their support for democracy and rage against Harper for shutting down Parliment. There were 64 rallies held across Canada, and rallies also were held in San Fransisco, London, and Costa Rica.
Rick Mercer, a political satirist, nails it when he says Canadians start to care about something when we are told we shouldn't care. Everyday after Harper decided to prorogue Parliament he came up with a reason why it was necessary to prorogue, which only tanked his poll numbers and made Canadians care more.
There was a different excuse given by Harper on a daily basis.
1. The Olympics are coming and it is standard proceedure to shut down the house for the Olympics so politics doesn't get in the way. This excuse angered Canadians, regular working Canadians don't get a paid holiday to watch the Olympics, why should our politicians?
So a couple days later he tried this one,
2. Regular Canadians don't care whether the house is out of session.
Uh oh! How dismissive of the Prime Minister. So at this point Christopher White, an anthropology student, started the Facebook group, Canadians Against Progation.
3. Harper, "This is standard proceedure"
Well that one, could of worked, oh, maybe not. The British Magazine, The Economist weighed in.
The Economist
Mr Harper’s supporters might argue that there is nothing wrong with this. Precedent allows it, and Canada is a decent, well-run place, where much is decided at the provincial level. Since most countries already have too many laws, a pause for parliamentary reflection might count as progress. Some places, such as Texas, manage well with only a part-time legislature. Politicians’ ritual slanging matches should not be allowed to distract Canadians from weightier battles, such as the bobsleigh, the giant slalom or round-robin curling. Come to think about it, why not shut down Parliament altogether, perhaps until the economy is growing again at full throttle? At least that would help cut the federal deficit.
The argument that previous prime ministers frequently prorogued Parliament is no more convincing. In almost every case they did so only once the government had got through the bulk of its legislative business. The Parliament that Mr Harper prorogued still had 36 government bills before it, including measures that form part of the prime minister’s much-vaunted crackdown on crime. When it reconvenes, those bills will have to start again from scratch. Past prorogations were typically brief (see article). This time sessions will be separated by a gap of 63 days.
Perhaps Harper didn't please the lefties on this, or the elitist media, but it couldn't have possibly upset the Conservatives, or could it?
Tom Flanagan, former Harper Advisor, criticizes PM talking points.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's latest reasoning behind his decision to prorogue Parliament has left many scratching their heads, and a former top Tory advisor says the government hasn't been "credible" in their explanation of the decision.
"I fault the government for not coming forward with a more adult explanation of why this is necessary," Harper's former chief of staff, Tom Flanagan, told CTV News Channel's Power Play on Tuesday.
"I think the government's talking points haven't been entirely credible."
4. The fourth reason, "Proguation is good for the economy". Could this be true, but the Western Standard says no? The Western Standard is a Ultra-Conservative news magazine like the Weekly Standard.
Mr. Harper has recently claimed that proroguing Parliament was a good thing because the market is worried about the constant threat of an election. This isn't the most bizarre excuse that the government has given (that honour goes to the "we all have to watch the Olympics" excuse), but it is certainly close.
I agree with Tom Flanagan that investors pay more attention to the state of the economy than political manoeuvres in Parliament. There is a certain amount of arrogance on the part of Mr. Harper to claim that the economy lives and breathes with his Premiership. That is to say, even if there is an election and Michael Ignatieff wins, investors are unlikely to be scared away. There is no reason to think that the prospect of an election would drive away the movement of capital.
Even if there was reason to think that, proroguing Parliament would have little impact. I don't see why an investor who would be concerned amount an election taking place would be more concerned by the possibility of an election in a couple of weeks versus a couple of months. When Parliament sits again the prospect of an election will be there, which means that the possibility of an election taking place soon doesn’t really go away with proroguing Parliament. This is more of an argument for a majority government (though it is a dumb one) rather than for proroguing Parliament.
So Harper's talking points didn't work its usual magic. He sunk 15 points in the polls, and thousands of Canadians mobilized together to demand our politicians to Get back to work!
Edit: Whoops, I knew I forgot one.
Reason #5. Recalibrate!
The pundits had a fun time with that excuse, for some laughs read the Macleans story.
Update More Photos: