Proroguing parliament part of Canadian tradition
Posted Jan 6, 2010 02:54:20 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
You can put a local political scientist down as the dissenting voice when it comes to all the controversy over proroguing parliament.
While more than 50,000 Canadians have now joined a Facebook group pressuring MPs to return to parliament, as scheduled, on January 25th, Rob Leone says the prorogation is no big deal.
The political science professor with Wilfrid Laurier University says former Prime Minister Jean Chretien prorogued parliament a number of times to restart the agenda and deliver a new throne speech.
Leone does not believe the prorogation does a disservice to democracy.
He tells 570 News the break will allow MPs to get back into their ridings and meet with constituents while also allowing for a cooling off period for the Opposition so that parliament can focus on the economy when it does return in March.
Leone says the economy should be the focus of the government right now and suspending parliament will provide the opportunity to get back on track.
He also thinks the impact of the prorogation will be negligible because not a lot of legislative business would happen around the Olympics regardless.
Leone says conventional wisdom suggests an MP is only working when he or she is in the House of Commons but he says elected officials put in long days even when outside Ottawa.
As for the threat of a spring election, Leone does not think there is a public appetite for one, adding that any party that forces an election could pay a price at the polls.
