Will the minister of "fake lakes" please rise?

Accidental Deliberations: Can we get that in writing?
This is a good one. Read the link.

Hypocritical law-breaking Conservative party members should be thrown in prison

kirbycairo: Don't throw the Bums out, put them in prison. . . .
... It is clear, time and again, that this government has no respect for the
law and the principles of parliament. ...

Maclean's magazine selects the worst parliamentarian as the Parliamentarian of the Year

A BCer in Toronto: John Baird, buffonery, and journalism
...
"Balanced journalism isn't letting one side spout its bullshit, and then
letting the other side spout its bullshit, and patting yourself on the
back for being so balanced. Journalism means when someone spouts
bullshit, you say no, that's bullshit, so please don't piss on my leg
and tell me it's raining.

We seem to have forgotten that. "

Harper's Conservatives - new ways to be un-accountable.

Accidental Deliberations: Off message
excerpt:
Does a party whose base is committed to personal responsibility actually
think that there's no problem with making "ministerial responsibility"
referable only to a cabinet hive-mind? And is Jay Hill's extended
waaambulance ride the best pitch for a party which normally tries
to portray itself as strong and in control?

Conservative harsh drug sentancing law up again

Tories revive mandatory sentences for drug crimes
Tenants caught growing as few as six marijuana plants in their dwellings
could face automatic jail terms of at least nine months, under a
federal drug-sentencing bill revived Wednesday that imposes harsher
penalties on home renters than on owners.
...

URGENT - Harper signing away our sovereignty while parliament is closed

James Laxer: Urgent National Debate Needed on Harper Trade Deal

excerpt:
In return for this “concession” from Washington, Ottawa has agreed to pay an unacceptably high price. Under the deal, Canadian provinces and municipalities will permanently give up the right to favour local companies in awarding contracts. Government procurement at the municipal and provincial levels is an extremely important economic development tool, crucial for job creation, the encouragement of Canadian firms and the development of home-grown technology. At a time when cities are rebuilding their transit systems and are refitting homes to make them more energy efficient, it is the height of folly to open all these contracts to American bidders. (Given the multiplicity of measures used to protect them from outside bidders, it is foolish to imagine that Canadian firms will have an equal opportunity to bid on U.S. state and municipal contracts.)

What makes the Harper government’s deal particularly maddening is that the Buy American provisions in the U.S. Recovery Act violate the spirit if not the terms of NAFTA that guarantee the right of Canadian firms to bid on U.S. federal government projects with the exception of defence contracts. Instead of publicly and loudly asserting that Washington is violating NAFTA, the Harper government is bribing the Obama administration to stop doing that by opening up tens of billions of dollars worth of public contracts in Canada to American corporations.

Harper, accountability and democracy

Accidental Deliberations: The reviews are in
Lawrence Martin:
(The Conservatives) campaigned heavily against Liberal abuse of power and promised a new era of accountability. And the Accountability Act did, in fact, contain many fine reforms. But as Duff Conacher of Democracy Watch (who advised the Conservatives on the legislation) will tell you, a goodly number of the proposed reforms never made it to the table, and others that were enacted have since been violated in spirit. When Stephen Harper's all-controlling proclivities are factored in, the end result has been a further worsening of the problem.
...

"Harper and his too-clever-by-half cronies in the PMO neglected to consider a very important constituency"

Prorogation, Disengagement and Cutting the Democratic Deficit in Canada « bastard.logic
News on an interesting report on Canada and Canadians by the Institute of Wellbeing.

Libby Davies wants to spank Harper

Libby Davies on wanting to give Harper a spanking - Hill Queeries
Interview recently with Libby Davies, NDP House Leader.

Flash protest rallies against prorogation

DAMMIT JANET!: We got 'em on the run!
Reports on recent flash protests at various locations, mainly 2 protests where Tony Clement was speaking.

Parliament carries on, oh, but wait, without the Conservatives.

Impolitical: Back to work aftermath
So how did it go yesterday? The first day on Parliament Hill post weekend prorogation rallies saw the opposition parties arrive to carry on with regular business on matters like youth unemployment, while the government treated us to a pretty coordinated effort to distract from prorogation.
...

The direct cost of Prorogation

The Scott Ross: Actual Cost of Prorogation $130 Million
...

In combining the direct cost of Canadians paying for a Parliament to do nothing for 22 days and the indirect cost of Parliament's lost time due to scrapping a portion of viable Bills, the total cost of prorogation can be justifiably approximated at $130,407,733.
...

More Conservative Spin

Accidental Deliberations: The reviews are in
Yesterday, Conservative anyonymice (sic) were offering a new reason for prorogation. The PM, we were told, wanted to ensure that ministers with new portfolios had time to bone up before facing their opposition critics in Question Period.

Pish.
....
And, Stockwell Day is now in charge of reigning in spending. His experience? He was Alberta's treasurer - the per capita spending then in Alberta was the highest of any province in Canada. They put a big spender in a position to reign in spending.

Who does this lazy Parliament represent anyway

Bill Longstaff: Who does this lazy Parliament represent anyway?
Excellent post by Bill Longstaff regarding what the make-up of parliament actually represents and what it does not.
...
A telling passage from one letter particularly caught my eye:

Judging from the current “representation” most Quebecois want to quit the federation; most Canadians are reluctant to elect women; there are no Conservative supporters in Vancouver, Montreal or Toronto; there are no Liberal supporters in Alberta. There are no New Democrat supporters in Saskatchewan and remarkably few elsewhere, and no Green supporters anywhere in Canada.

Although it appears farcical, this is indeed what the current makeup of Parliament suggests, and it's a sad and disturbing message. The fact that Conservatives are not represented in our three major cities and Liberals are not represented in Alberta, even though many people in those areas support those parties, contributes to dangerous divisions in an already regionally divided nation. That millions of Canadians are unable to help elect someone who represents them is a democratic tragedy.
...

Only in Canada: Harper's prorogation is a Canadian thing

Yappa Ding Ding: Only in Canada: Harper's prorogation is a Canadian thing

Go searching for the last time a Westminster-style parliament was shut down to free its leaders from unwanted censure or scrutiny — and you'll end right back in Canada, where you started.

It turns out, no other English-speaking nation with a system of government like ours — not Britain, Australia or New Zealand — has ever had its parliament prorogued in modern times, so that its ruling party could avoid an investigation, or a vote of confidence, by other elected legislators.

Only three times has this happened, all in Canada ...

Do the Harperites think nobody gives a damn when you defecate all over those values

Accidental Deliberations: The reviews are in
Column by Rick Salutin on Harper's prorogation move.

MSM beginning to come around?

Revised media reaction to prorogation. « Scott's DiaTribes
It’s kind of amusing to watch the second guessers in the media take aim at their comrades for being wrong on the public’s negative reaction to Harper proroguing Parliament.
...

Fair Vote Canada's letters to the PM and to the Opposition leaders

Challenging the Commonplace: Strongly-Worded Letters to PM, Opposition Leaders
...
(excerpt)

At present the House of Commons embodies and projects a series of ridiculous untruths. Judging from the current “representation” most Quebecois want to quit the federation; most Canadians are reluctant to elect women; there are no Conservative supporters in Vancouver, Montreal or Toronto; there are no Liberal supporters in Alberta. There are no New Democrat supporters in Saskatchewan and remarkably few elsewhere, and no Green supporters anywhere in Canada...

Each of you should now be asking: does my party really want democratic representation for all Canadians, and what will my party risk or sacrifice, now, to achieve it?
...

Worst Governer General Ever?

Pulse Niagara Online Edition

...
Harper deliberately chose to pick a political fight with the opposition just six weeks after promising to work with them. Faced with certain defeat, he demands Jean prorogue Parliament. Did she consult with the leader of the opposition to see if he could lead a government? There’s no sign she did. Instead, she simply gave in.
Fast forward one year and Harper is again in trouble—this time over his government’s handling of the Afghan detainee torture issue. On the last day before the Christmas holidays, MPs passed a motion calling on the government to release thousands of uncensored documents on Afghan prisoners. Harper promised the committee looking at the issue they would receive “all legally available documents.” Instead, he prorogues Parliament, thus disbanding all committees in both the House and the Senate and killing government bills, no matter how close they were to approval.
And as many others have argued, Harper’s timing said everything. He chose to announce on December 30 – the same day five Canadians were killed in Afghanistan and at a time when the public and media were focusing on the announcement of Canada’s Olympic ice–hockey team that Parliament wouldn’t resume until March 3. Even more troubling is that Harper didn’t even bother to follow tradition and make his “request” of the Governor–General in person, instead telling her over the phone. Yet, the Governor General’s official residence is right across the street from the Prime Minister’s Sussex Drive home. Constitutional expert C.E.S. Franks, a Queen’s University professor, called Harper’s actions “an affront to the dignity of the office of Governor General.”

The British magazine, The Economist, an influential and largely right–wing publication, stated in an editorial, “Mr. Harper’s move looks like naked self–interest.” The magazine, which once dubbed former Prime Minister Paul Martin “Mr. Dithers”, said Harper’s a competent tactician with a ruthless streak. “The danger in allowing the Prime Minister to end discussion any time he chooses is that it makes Parliament accountable to him rather than the other way around.”

Top Ten Reasons Stephen Harper Prorogued Parliament

The Top Ten Reasons Stephen Harper Prorogued Parliament | The League of Ordinary Gentlemen
Comic, but true!
(By true, I mean it had everything to do with the Afghan Detainee Scandal, etc.)