Canadians to protest Stephen Bonaparte Harper's Imperial Ambitions Today

[marmar]

Anti-prorogue protests planned
Last Updated: Saturday, January 23, 2010 | 10:05 AM ET


Rallies are planned in several Canadian towns and cities Saturday to protest against Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to suspend Parliament until March 3.

The protests are being largely organized through Facebook and there's no indication of the expected size of the turnouts.

One of the biggest rallies will be on Parliament Hill, where the list of speakers includes Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff and NDP Leader Jack Layton.

They claim Harper prorogued Parliament to duck questions from the opposition about his government's handling of the Afghan detainee issue.

MPs were supposed to return to work Jan. 25 after a holiday break, but Harper said he moved to delay the resumption of Parliament in order to focus on strategies for Canada's economy.



http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/01/23/prorogue-protests.html

[Gidney N Cloyd]

1. How common is suspending Parliament?

[Spazito]

3. Proroguing Parliament was/is used normally ....

as a "recess" after most, if not all, of the government's agenda for the year has been completed. It allows the government to move onto a new session and introduce their new agenda (what the government plans to focus on, etc). Without the proroguing process, the only way to close a session would be via dissolution which would cause a general election.

harper has now abused the proroguing of Parliament, not because it's agenda has been completed but to avoid his government falling the first time and to try stop the revelation that the government transferred detainees knowing they would be tortured.

Proroguing is legal but the way harper has used it has been an abuse.

It is the difference between the letter of the law versus the spirit of the law, imo.

[midnight]

2. Why did he suspend until March 3? Canada's economy? But they are hosting

the winter olympics.

[applegrove]

4. I like the idea of an imperial Harper. That suits him and his neocon philosophy to

a T. They don't believe in the enlightenment.

[enigmatic]

5. I was in Edmonton doing this today

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/technology/Thousands+turn+rallies+protest+proroguing+Parliament/2477360/story.html