How will this impact the government’s COVID-19 response?
Though not always a contentious step, two prorogations a decade ago under Stephen Harper’s government brought the process into the spotlight. The most notable prorogation in Canadians’ recent memories is likely the action taken by prime minister Stephen Harper in 2008.
Harper’s government was on the verge of losing a non-confidence vote when he asked governor general Michaëlle Jean to prorogue Parliament. Opposition NDP and Liberal MPs had formed a coalition, backed by the Bloc Québécois, to bring down Harper’s minority government. Parliament was suspended for seven weeks, and by the time it returned, the threat to Harper’s government had largely passed. Jean told The Canadian Press at the time that she consulted with various constitutional experts and took two hours to make the right decision, using the delay to “send a message — and for people to understand that this warranted reflection.”Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that parliament would be prorogued on Dec. 4 , 2008.the then vice-regal that Parliament would return soon, and that his government would produce a budget that could pass. Russell told the CBC that the entire situation in 2008 set the precedent for future prorogations. ″[Jean] made it clear these reserve powers of the governor general may sometimes be used in ways that are contrary to the advice of an incumbent prime minister,” Russell said. “Because if the contrary was the case, any PM could, at any time, for any reason, not only dissolve Parliament, but prorogue it for any length of time for any reason. We wouldn’t have parliamentary government. We would have prime ministerial government.”Many Canadians protested in opposition to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's move to suspend parliament for the first few months of 2010.We’ve had a few prorogations since 2008. Harper once again asked for a prorogation on Dec. 30, 2009 to keep Parliament suspended during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. However, the prorogation also prompted protests as it had the effect of killing a committee inquiry into the government’s treatment of Afghan detainees. Harper also prorogued ParliamentOn Tuesday, Trudeau pitched the prorogation as a way to set up Canada for a long-term response to recovering from COVID-19. “This is our chance to build a more resilient Canada,” he said. “This is our moment to change the future for the better, we can’t afford to miss it because this window of opportunity won’t be open for long.”Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference in Ottawa on Aug. 18, 2020. When asked about the 2015 platform that promised Liberals would not “resort to legislative tricks to avoid scrutiny,” Trudeau said there was a key difference between him and his predecessor on the issue. “Stephen Harper and the Conservatives prorogued Parliament in order to shut it down and avoid a confidence vote,” he said. “We are proroguing Parliament to bring back Parliament on the exact same week it was supposed to and bring forward a confidence vote.”It’s expected Trudeau and the Liberals will take this time to get Freeland up to speed on her new cabinet role, as well as Dominic LeBlanc, who’s taking over Freeland’s previous role in intergovernmental affairs. There’s a cabinet retreat scheduled for Sept. 14.
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