In case you spent last night cheering on Canada in that oh-so-close World Junior hockey final, here are some highlights from Stephen Harper’s interview, contrasted with a few key facts:
On shutting down Parliament:
“A decision to prorogue when the government has the confidence of the house is a routine constitutional matter.”
FACT: That’s not what he used to think. In 2003, before the prime ministerial transition from the Chrétien to the Martin government, Stephen Harper said “the Liberals apparently want to prorogue the House… They want to run out of town, get out of town just one step ahead of the sheriff. ” (Stephen Harper, Canwest News Service, October 20, 2003).
On the length of Parliamentary sessions:
“Sessions of Parliament since Confederation have been on average roughly a year.”
FACT: Stephen Harper is being cute with the numbers. The most recent session of the current Parliament was 338 days long. Since 1983 after Parliament established fixed sitting dates, all other sessions of Parliament with at last 50 sitting days averaged 526 days – which would allow sufficient time for the 37 government bills that were just killed by Stephen Harper to make their way through Parliament.
On the Afghan detainee torture controversy:
“I think the polls have been pretty clear, Peter, that that’s not on the top of the radar of most Canadians… obviously we have a big difference of opinion with the Opposition as to whether that is an issue that warrant attention or not.”
FACT: While polls don’t dictate what issues Parliament decides to focus on, a CBC poll from December 12, 2009 found that a majority of Canadians believed Richard Colvin’s claim that prisoners handed over by Canadians to the Afghan authorities were tortured. Furthermore, 83 percent of this group believed the government was aware there was a strong possibility that prisoners would be tortured. Meanwhile, a poll released yesterday showed that 48% of Canadians were unhappy with Mr. Harper’s performance in Copenhagen.
On crime legislation:
“We have, as you know, some important crime legislation. That legislation will continue to be difficult. It continued to be difficult through the past Parliament in both houses of Parliament, but particularly with the Senate. As you know, we have some opportunity to fill some Senate vacancies to help deal with that problem.”
FACT: Mr. Harper shut down Parliament and now complains about bills not being passed. Of the nineteen justice bills before Parliament, eleven are still in the House of Commons, while five have already been passed by Senate. Only three crime bills are before the Senate.
On Senate reform:
“We’ve had to appoint people. Those people are going to further our Senate reform agenda. Part of what the Senate is blocking isn’t just government crime legislation, it’s blocking Senate reform legislation.”
FACT: Talking about Senate reform is a typical diversion tactic for Mr. Harper. Opposition to Mr. Harper’s Senate reform agenda has not come from Liberal Senators, but rather from the provinces, our constitutional partners. Liberals have argued that Senate reform must be done in accordance with Canada’s constitution, and not unilaterally. Instead of acting on the Senate’s recommendations to advance Senate reform, Mr. Harper has chosen to appoint more Senators in one year than any Prime Minister in Canadian history.
