Parliamentary minutiae
Dec. 2nd, 2008 09:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
c9First, House of Commons Procedure and Practice Online, a handy guide to just about everything House of Commons. Added: How Canadians Govern Themselves, 6th Edition, by Senator Eugene Forsey. (also, PDF version)
Second, help! I can't figure out if parliament can be prorogued before opposition days ("supply" days) happen! I'm sure the Governor General's aides do know and would enforce any requirements, but I just want to find the actual standing orders / legislation that covers this.
Third, a great big WTF to our House of Commons. The political geek in me is totally squeeing and having great fun. But I know in m heart this is actually a pretty messy situation that ought to have been dealt with better.
Primarily, the Conservatives / Stephen Harper should not have presented such ideologically-driven ideas in the fiscal update, and should have been more open about the existing stimuli that are in progress and why he thinks they're good.
The Liberal/NDP coalition is interesting, may do good things, may screw things up, who knows. But the optics are terrible and I really think it will damage the Liberals in the next election (unless there's a huge event or change that changes the subject of said election). Most Canadians don't really get the Parliamentary system, and all they see (goaded on by the pretty-much-lying Conservatives) is the losers of the last election somehow cheating the system. It's all legal, but not common, and I think people don't really like the consequences of minority government now that they're here.
I am amused to discover that, in our typical Canadian way, we've found a version of Proportional Representation without actually changing any laws. Same way we've dealt with abortion since the 80s actually. 'Maybe if we just ignore the issue, everything will be fine.' Ha!
Now back to pretending to work while actually surfing Canadian news sites and blogs obsessively.
Second, help! I can't figure out if parliament can be prorogued before opposition days ("supply" days) happen! I'm sure the Governor General's aides do know and would enforce any requirements, but I just want to find the actual standing orders / legislation that covers this.
Third, a great big WTF to our House of Commons. The political geek in me is totally squeeing and having great fun. But I know in m heart this is actually a pretty messy situation that ought to have been dealt with better.
Primarily, the Conservatives / Stephen Harper should not have presented such ideologically-driven ideas in the fiscal update, and should have been more open about the existing stimuli that are in progress and why he thinks they're good.
The Liberal/NDP coalition is interesting, may do good things, may screw things up, who knows. But the optics are terrible and I really think it will damage the Liberals in the next election (unless there's a huge event or change that changes the subject of said election). Most Canadians don't really get the Parliamentary system, and all they see (goaded on by the pretty-much-lying Conservatives) is the losers of the last election somehow cheating the system. It's all legal, but not common, and I think people don't really like the consequences of minority government now that they're here.
I am amused to discover that, in our typical Canadian way, we've found a version of Proportional Representation without actually changing any laws. Same way we've dealt with abortion since the 80s actually. 'Maybe if we just ignore the issue, everything will be fine.' Ha!
Now back to pretending to work while actually surfing Canadian news sites and blogs obsessively.
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no subject
Date: 2008-12-02 02:53 pm (UTC)Both are potentially valid reasons for the GG to say 'no' to the request to prorogue, but it is a new situation.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-02 02:57 pm (UTC)I did read this morning that the GG is on her way home (you read the Maclean's blogs right? best source of info these days!) so we're in for some history, I agree.