Tom Flanagan, who served as Stephen Harper’s campaign manager and chief of staff, yesterday confirmed the real reasons behind Mr. Harper’s decision to shut down Parliament:
“Everybody knows that the Parliament was prorogued in order to shut down the Afghan inquiry.”
(CBC’s Power & Politics, January 11, 2010)
Mr. Flanagan also said that the Harper government’s excuses for prorogation are wearing thin:
“I think his problem is that the government’s talking points really don’t have much credibility… instead of having an adult of defense of it, the government comes up with these childish talking points. Then you try and backfill with other stuff that doesn’t make much sense either, so it’s a self-created problem.” (CBC’s Power & Politics, January 11, 2010)
Following Mr. Flanagan’s analysis, let’s look at the top excuses the Harper government has used in recent days to justify shutting down Parliament:
1) Parliament causes market instability:
“I think that the games begin when Parliament returns. The government can take our time now to do the important work to prepare the economic agenda ahead. That said, as soon as Parliament comes back we’re in a minority Parliament situation. The first thing that happens is a vote of confidence and there will be votes of confidence and election speculation for every single week after that for after the rest of the year. That’s the kind of instability that I think markets are actually worried about.” (Stephen Harper, Business News Network, January 11, 2010)
2) Shutting down Parliament is necessary for budget consultations:
“The fact of the matter is this, the government is going to take advantage of this time – we need the time – to look carefully at our agenda, to continue to deliver the economic measures that are being delivered here and elsewhere across the country as part of the economic action plan.” (Stephen Harper, Globe and Mail, January 8, 2010)
3) Shutting down Parliament is not necessary for budget consultations:
“Prorogation does not affect the consultations for the budget.” (Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, CBC News Network, January 11, 2010)
4) Only “elites” care about shutting down Parliament:
“It’s a big issue with the Ottawa media elite and some of the elites in our country, but I got to tell you if reaction in my constituency is any indication, I’ve had maybe three dozen emails…It may not be what the chattering classes want, but we’re not here to govern on behalf of the chattering classes.” (Industry Minister Tony Clement, cbc.ca, January 11, 2010)
5) Parliament doesn’t stimulate the economy, but partisan government advertising does:
“As you know, as part of our economic action plan, one of the things we’ve of course done is to step up government advertising. One of the purposes of that has been to support media outlets during the recession that have been particularly hard-hit.” (Stephen Harper, A-Channel Ottawa, January 11, 2010)
