From Today's Daily Gleaner:
Ignatieff is now pledging, if he becomes prime minister, to never prorogue Parliament.
But that isn't how I remember it:
Ignatieff is not absolutely ruling out the prime ministerial power to prorogue Parliament, but he says the public outcry from Canadians shows Harper has not set a good precedent for future use of the authority.
Definitely not an unconditional pledge; perhaps even a bit weaselly. But you shouldn't catch heck for promises you didn't make.
More than once, he has said he'd never prorogue to avoid a confidence motion or an issue like the Afghanistan inquiry.
ReplyDeleteUnder normal circumstances,(end of a session with legislative work completed),it is perfectly normal to prorogue and restart parliament with new agenda.
It's depressing how little Canadians, including the MSM, know about their own parliamentary system.
ReplyDeleteI think Ignatieff is really missing an opportunity here. This is a perfect moment for the Liberal leader to propose new reforms on parliament that would limit some of the power of the executive branch of government. I believe that such a move on Ignatieff's part could make the entire incident of prorogation into a real political game-changer. However, as we have come to expect the Liberal leader doesn't seem to want to be a leader, just a gentle grumbler in the background.
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