The Fifth Column
'There is also the possibility that the Facebook group will have zero effect, other than deluding the participants into believing that they are making a difference.'- Don Martin: Recalibration lost
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Any poll suggesting there’s a tie in voter support between federal Conservatives and Liberals is more likely a rogue result than prorogation backlash.
But the latest EKOS poll has found the big boys within a percentage point of each other and projects the Liberals would claim more seats than the Conservatives if an election were forced today.
Something tells me this isn’t the sort of ‘recalibration’ Prime Minister Stephen Harper had in mind when he unplugged Parliament until March on the quiet eve of last New Year’s Eve.
But is it possible for polls to swing this wildly this quickly on a sleepy issue like Parliament on extended hiatus while the government’s response to the Haitian earthquake crisis has been exemplary?
- Jeff Jedras: You can't prorogue me, I prorogue myself!
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My Liberal blogging friend Steve has a post up on the NDP's proposal, or I guess musings about a proposal, to restrict the ability of a Prime Minister to prorogue parliament, and lamenting the NDP seems out ahead of the Liberals on this issue. I left a few lengthily comments on the matter there that probably merit further exploration here.
It should be noted that it seems the NDP are just talking about writing a bill, so it's hard to comment with too much authority about a hypothetical proposal. Essentially, they think that the PM shouldn't be able to ask for prorogation, but that it should require a majority vote by the House of Commons. (They seem to have forgotten about the Senate, not sure if that's intentional or not. Hard to justify excluding them though, if it was intentional. They get prorogued too.)
That said, I do have some thoughts.
First, I don't think the power to prorogue is the real problem here. Any tool can be abused. That doesn't mean the tool is flawed, though. Take guns. Guns have legitimate uses: safety and protection. They can also be abused to commit criminal acts. So we don't ban guns, but take steps to restrict their use. Still, gun control alone won't solve crime. The deeper problem is the criminals. So just as I support reasonable and effective gun control, I'm open to exploring reasonable and effective prorogation control, to coin a phrase. I'll get more into that in a moment.
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