Prime Minister suspends Parliament
Posted Dec 30, 2009 01:23:24 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A spokesman says the Conservative government has gotten permission from the Governor General to prorogue the current Parliament and begin a new one after the Winter Olympics.
Dimitri Soudas says Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke to Michaelle Jean via telephone earlier today. He says a new Parliament will begin with a speech from the throne on March 3, and a new budget delivered on March 4.
Members of Parliament had been scheduled to return to work January 25.
The move effectively shuts down government committees, which would stop MPs from pursuing the Afghan detainee controversy until Parliament returns.
Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale called the move “a shocking insult to democracy.”
