Broken Parliament

Broken Parliament:

By: Laura Steiner

Ladies and Gentlemen: The 40th Canadian Parliament is now broken. It was broken two weeks ago when Jim Flaherty rose and told the opposition he was cutting off their funding. That was like a matador waving a red flag in front of a bull. Fast forward through a week of fighting, and accusations to the Thursday morning when the Prime Minister met Governor-General Michaelle Jean. He asked for a suspension of Parliament, and after 2 hours she granted it.

It's supposed to be a proverbial `cooling off' period. The coalition would have a graceful way to back down, while the government would get on with the business of governing. Governing with a minority means having to play nice with the opposition and every so often let them get what they want.

That kind of cooperation isn't going to happen. They have called each other traitors, accused each other of sedition. When you say things like that outside the House of Commons, there may be a way of backing down. But inside the chamber I think they breed a disrespect and mean-spiritedness that when you're attempting to govern is impossible to get past.

Jean played for time. A decision will have to be made over who governs the country. Even if the coalition dissolves, there are still 3 opposition parties that have stated they have no confidence in the government of the day. In a minority government this may in fact be worse than any insult.

This atmosphere is unworkable. Let's dissolve the thing, and get to the polls.