Prorogue pro quo

Stephen Harper hasn't yet stimulated the economy, but he sure has stimulated the voters. Yesterday, the Conservative minority government asked Gov. General Michaëlle Jean to grant Harper "prorogue," a.k.a the allowance to suspend Parliament until Jan. 26, or as NDP Jack Layton so illustratively put it, "put a padlock on Parliament Hill."


So I figure, it's a safe time to write a blog, while all the politicians are sitting in their $1-million homes, stewing and scheming of ways to underhand the others. You could practically see the steam coming out of Layton and Dion's ears in the frigid cold, as they addressed Nathan Phillips Square today in Toronto, looking like Dick Dastardly and Muttley. And there are handfuls of anti-coalition rallies, and anti-Harper rallies, and pro-democracy rallies -- lots and lots of rallies.



But I've decided to look at the positives of the situation, aside from the fact that this little blip has actually gotten a rise out of Canadian voters and may influence a better turnout. Sure, we know Harper is vengeful and strategic, albeit tricky, but in his defence, the formation of the coalition was just as sneaky and it provoked Harper's move to stall Parliament. The populous voted (maybe a very low percentage) and Harper won a minority government. It feels to me that the remaining losers needed to spite the Conservatives in a shifty, politic way. To be honest, I voted for Layton and the NDP, but this coalition reveals that he is only interested in the short-term promise of seats, and not in the way his party is perceived by voters for the next election.


And talk about short-term gain. Didn't Dion just resign? What does he care if Harper stimulates the economy or not, he's not even going to be in office to see it happen. Don't tell me it's out of the sheer patriotism in his heart? What does he stand to gain, except closure that he managed to prove Harper - the man who beat him fair and square - wasn't capable of "maintaining the confidence of the House." Of course, he wasn't capable, because Dion is running around promising more seats to the NDP, and God-knows-what to the Quebecois. No one can actually understand that man.


Pro-coalitionists argue that Dion was completely within his rights to form a coalition, and vote non-confident at the next bill. It's part of politics. It's also part of politics for Harper to demand prorogue. The point is, it was never about whether or not the parties were confident in the Conservatives to deliver a proper package concerning the economy. It was most definitely about spite, abusing democracy, and winning in the game of politics. While I would consider myself a Liberal thinker and an NDP-supporter, I have to say thank God for Michaëlle Jean.


Further, the point is, the coalition did not give the Conservatives enough time whatsoever to deliver an economic plan. They demanded he insert a stimulus package, and Harper retorted that he was not prepared to do so until Jan. 26. Because unlike Dion, a rash and bumbling buffoon, he knows that the economy is a complex, tangled mess with many factors. He knows that in order to best protect Canadians from the failing economy, he must think it through. The fact of the matter is, I am not utterly pro-Conservative, but I sure as hell do not want Dion leading me into a fluttering economy.

-- the golden girl

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