Premier Brad Wall preaches importance of democracy and then twice supports PM Stephen Harper’s “nakedly partisan” decision to prorogue Parliament

No Prorogue Rally, Saskatoon, Jan. 23, 2010

Premier Brad Wall & PM Stephen Harper, Jan. 11, 2008

What would Premier Brad Wall tell students at Campbell Collegiate in Regina today?

On February 12, 2008, Wall spent an hour at the school preaching the importance of democracy and encouraging students to get interested in politics and, when they’re old enough, to get out and vote. The visit was initiated by the government.

According to the Leader-Post, Wall said the problem in Saskatchewan and the rest of Canada is that not enough young people have been engaged by the various political parties.

It’s not enough for “middle-aged politicians” to decide what works for young people -- they have to offer up ideas themselves and politicians have to listen, said Wall.

Only 38 per cent of voters aged 18 to 21 voted in the 2004 federal election, Wall said, as he insisted to the students that every vote really does count.

Another reason teens may not get interested in politics is cynicism about politicians, said Wall. [Wall tells students about joy of politics (Leader-Post, February 13, 2008)]

“When you think about it, young people have the most at stake in elections because the decisions that governments make today are going to affect them for the longest time,” Wall said in a news release. “Yet we know that voter turnout among young people is the lowest of any age group.”

Eight months later Wall eagerly congratulated Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his re-elected government following their October 14, 2008, election win.

In a news release, Wall also acknowledged the work of everyone who participated in the recent election campaign, once again mentioning democracy.

“From the returning officers to the candidates to the volunteers for all parties, everyone who is involved in an election gives up a little bit for the greater good of our country,” Wall said. “In a world where peaceful elections would still be considered a near miracle in many nations, we should always remember the people who help make it happen and never take our proud democratic process for granted,” Wall said.

On December 4, 2008, Harper turned democracy on its ear when he asked Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean to prorogue Parliament so his Conservative government could evade a confidence vote.

The StarPhoenix reported the next day that Wall supported Harper’s decision. [Coalition drama thrill for academics (StarPhoenix, December 5, 2008)]

Then, just over a year later, on December 30, 2009, Harper again pulled the plug on Parliament, this time to thwart an investigation by a House of Commons committee of the Afghan detainee affair.

Andrew Mayeda, the national politics reporter for Canwest News Service, said Harper brushed off criticism of his decision to shutdown Parliament for the next two months, calling the move a “routine” procedure that will enable the government to “recalibrate” its agenda.

“The decision to prorogue, when the government has the confidence of the House, is a routine constitutional matter,” said the prime minister.

“There’s nothing particularly unusual about a session of Parliament being roughly a year in length,” Harper said during the interview with CBC Television at his office on Parliament Hill. [Shutting down Parliament ‘routine,’ PM says (Canwest News Service, January 5, 2010)]

And for a second time, Harper found support in Saskatchewan.

In addition to holding down the premier’s job, Brad Wall is also responsible for intergovernmental affairs.

But when reporters asked for the intergovernmental minister to comment on Harper’s controversial decision to prorogue Parliament, Wall was nowhere to be seen. The Saskatchewan Party government instead left it to Justice Minister Don Morgan to handle the media.

“I’m sure the prime minister’s position is that they need to do this so they can get on with the other things they need to do and legislation was being stymied or thwarted through the Senate, and I appreciate the frustration that they’ve gone through,” said Morgan, one of 11 Saskatchewan Party MLAs who are also members of the federal Conservative party. [Premier not anxious to comment on Harper tactics (StarPhoenix, January 9, 2010)]

Wall finally surfaced the following week speaking to reporters for the first time since before Christmas.

According to StarPhoenix reporter James Wood, Wall – described as one of Harper’s “closest allies” among provincial leaders – “had no problem with the PM’s decision” to prorogue Parliament.

“I can’t put my finger on anything that is problematic for the provincial government with the House (of Commons) not sitting,” said Wall.

The premier used the fact that Saskatchewan legislators will return as scheduled in March to defend the federal prorogation.

“If there’s no harm done by the provincial government on its regular schedule not being in the legislature . . . from December to March . . . then I can’t think of, offhand, any trouble with the House of Commons not sitting,” he said.

Wall had no comment when asked if he thought Harper had prorogued Parliament to avoid questions on the Afghanistan torture issue, as suggested by a range of figures, including NDP Leader Dwain Lingenfelter and former Harper strategist Tom Flanagan.

“I can’t speculate on the motives of the prime minister.” [Wall does time warp on website (StarPhoenix, January 16, 2010)]

You can be damn sure if Harper wasn’t Conservative Wall would have plenty to say about motives. As Opposition leader Wall took every opportunity to slam the Liberals when they were in power but as soon as the Conservatives were elected in January 2006, he folded like a cheap suitcase.

Wall’s creepy desire to be Harper’s prairie stooge has left him squarely on the wrong side of a major national controversy.

A Facebook group created by University of Alberta alumnus Christopher White called Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament boasts more than 216,000 members and is growing by the minute.

In dozens of cities across the country rallies were held on January 23, 2010, to protest Harper’s proroguing of Parliament. In Saskatoon, organizers said more than 450 people packed City Hall Square. In Regina, a crowd of over 300 gathered in the Scarth Street Mall.

Parliament has been prorogued 120 times since Confederation. But according to John Whyte, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Saskatchewan’s college of law, prorogation “has never properly been used to manipulate parliamentary oversight of a government or delay accountability, but this is exactly what happened in late 2008, and again last week.”

The prime minister “has resorted to a parliamentary device for purposes for which it was not intended,” Whyte said. [Prorogation: Pity Canada, Jean (StarPhoenix, January 14, 2010)]

On January 12, 2010, the Ottawa Citizen published an op-ed signed by more than 170 Canadian academics (including six from Saskatchewan) with expertise in the principles of democracy. The lead authors are Daniel Weinstock of Université de Montréal, Jeremy Webber of the University of Victoria and Charles Taylor of McGill University.

“As Canadian university professors dedicated to educating students about democratic institutions, we are deeply concerned by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision to use his power to prorogue Parliament for a second year in a row in circumstances that allow him to evade democratic accountability,” the letter said. “The Prime Minister is not only making cavalier use of the discretionary powers entrusted to him in our Parliamentary system, but in so doing he is undermining our system of democratic government.”

The group said Harper’s proroguing of Parliament in 2008, and now, “was nakedly partisan.”

“Given the short-term, tactical, and partisan purposes served by prorogation, and given the absence of any plausible public purpose served by it, we conclude that the Prime Minister has violated the trust of Parliament and of the Canadian people. We emphasize moreover that the violation of this trust strikes at the heart of our system of government, which relies upon the use of discretionary powers for the public good rather than merely for partisan purposes. How do we make sure it serves the public good? By requiring our governments to face Parliament and justify their actions, in the face of vigorous questioning,” they said.

In the Vancouver Sun on January 16, 2009, Richard Foot, a national and international affairs reporter for CanWest News Service, said “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,” Foot said.

The first was on August 13, 1873, after Sir John A. Macdonald persuaded Gov. Gen. Lord Dufferin to prorogue Parliament in order to halt a House of Commons probe into the Pacific Scandal.

The Liberals had evidence to show that key Conservative ministers, including Macdonald himself, had accepted money from Sir Hugh Allan, who hoped to be awarded the contract to build the railway to British Columbia. A commission of inquiry was summoned to investigate allegations of Conservative corruption, and more and more damning details were emerging by the day. With Parliament scheduled to sit in August 1873, Macdonald feared a non-confidence vote and asked Dufferin to prorogue the House rather than allowing a vote on adjournment. [Prorogation, then and now (National Post, December 8, 2008)]

Parliament reconvened on October 23, 1873, but under extreme pressure, Macdonald and his government resigned November 7, 1873.

Foot said no prime minister dared use prorogation to such effect again, until Stephen Harper in 2008. [Other PMs don’t prorogue parliament for own ends (Vancouver Sun, January 16, 2010)]

Premier Brad Wall should apologize to the people of Saskatchewan and, at the very least, pay a return visit to Campbell Collegiate to apologize in person for displaying the kind of behaviour that has caused so many young people in the province to be cynical of politicians and politics in general.

---------------------------------------------------------------

History of Prorogation in Canada, 1867 to 2009

Stephen Harper (Conservative Party)
February 6, 2006 – present

▪ December 30, 2009
▪ December 4, 2008
▪ September 14, 2007

Paul Martin (Liberal)
December 12, 2003 to February 6, 2006

▪ None

Jean Chrétien (Liberal)
November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003

▪ November 12, 2003
▪ September 16, 2002
▪ September 18, 1999
▪ February 2, 1996

Kim Campbell (Progressive Conservative)
June 25, 1993 to November 4, 1993

▪ None

Brian Mulroney (Progressive Conservative)
September 17, 1984 to June 25, 1993

▪ May 12, 1991
▪ February 28, 1989
▪ August 28, 1986

John Turner (Liberal)
June 30, 1984 to September 17, 1984

▪ None

Pierre Trudeau
March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984

▪ November 30, 1983

Joe Clark (Progressive Conservative)
June 4, 1979 to March 3, 1980

▪ None

Pierre Trudeau (Liberal)
April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979

▪ October 10, 1978
▪ October 17, 1977
▪ October 12, 1976
▪ February 26, 1974
▪ February 16, 1972
▪ October 7, 1970
▪ October 22, 1969

Lester B. Pearson (Liberal)
April 22, 1963 to April 20, 1968

▪ May 8, 1967
▪ June 30, 1965
▪ April 3, 1965
▪ December 21, 1963

John Diefenbaker (Progressive Conservative)
June 21, 1957 to April 22, 1963

▪ September 29, 1961
▪ August 10, 1960
▪ July 18, 1959
▪ September 6, 1958

Louis St. Laurent (Liberal)
November 15, 1948 to June 21, 1957

▪ January 8, 1957
▪ August 14, 1956
▪ July 28, 1955
▪ June 26, 1954
▪ May 14, 1953
▪ November 20, 1952
▪ December 29, 1951
▪ October 9, 1951
▪ January 29, 1951
▪ June 30, 1950
▪ December 10, 1949

William Lyon Mackenzie King
October 23, 1935 to November 15, 1948

▪ June 30, 1948
▪ July 17, 1947
▪ August 31, 1946
▪ December 18, 1945
▪ January 31, 1945
▪ January 26, 1944
▪ January 27, 1943
▪ January 21, 1942
▪ November 5, 1940
▪ September 13, 1939
▪ June 3, 1939
▪ July 1, 1938
▪ April 10, 1937
▪ June 23, 1936

Richard Bedford Bennett (Conservative)
August 7, 1930 to October 23, 1935

▪ July 5, 1935
▪ July 3, 1934
▪ May 27, 1933
▪ May 26, 1932
▪ August 3, 1931
▪ September 22, 1930

William Lyon Mackenzie King
September 25, 1926 to August 6, 1930

▪ June 14, 1929
▪ June 11, 1928
▪ April 14, 1927

Arthur Meighen
June 29, 1926 to September 25, 1926

▪ None

William Lyon Mackenzie King (Liberal)
December 29, 1921 to June 29, 1926

▪ June 27, 1925
▪ July 19, 1924
▪ June 30, 1923
▪ June 27, 1922

Arthur Meighen (Conservative)
July 10, 1920 to December 29, 1921

▪ June 4, 1921

Sir Robert Borden (Conservative)
October 10, 1911 to July 10, 1920

▪ July 1, 1920
▪ November 10, 1919
▪ July 7, 1919
▪ May 24, 1918
▪ May 18, 1916
▪ April 15, 1915
▪ August 22, 1914
▪ June 12, 1914
▪ June 6, 1913
▪ April 1, 1912

Sir Wilfred Laurier (Liberal)
July 11, 1896 to October 6, 1911

▪ May 4, 1910
▪ May 19, 1909
▪ July 20, 1908
▪ April 27, 1907
▪ July 13, 1906
▪ July 20, 1905
▪ August 10, 1904
▪ October 24, 1903
▪ May 15, 1902
▪ May 23, 1901
▪ July 18, 1900
▪ August 11, 1899
▪ June 13, 1898
▪ June 29, 1897
▪ October 5, 1896

Sir Charles Tupper (Conservative)
May 1, 1896 to July 8, 1896

▪ None

Sir Mackenzie Bowell (Conservative)
December 21, 1894 to April 27, 1896

▪ April 23, 1896
▪ July 22, 1895

Sir John Thompson (Liberal-Conservative)
December 5, 1892 to December 12, 1894

▪ July 23, 1894
▪ April 1, 1893

Sir John Abbott (Liberal-Conservative)
June 16, 1891 to November 24, 1892

▪ July 9, 1892
▪ September 30, 1891

Sir John A. Macdonald
October 17, 1878 to June 6, 1891

▪ May 16, 1890
▪ May 2, 1889
▪ May 22, 1888
▪ June 23, 1887
▪ June 2, 1886
▪ July 20, 1885
▪ April 19, 1884
▪ May 25, 1883
▪ May 17, 1882
▪ March 21, 1881
▪ May 7, 1880
▪ May 15, 1879

Alexander Mackenzie (Liberal)
November 7, 1873 to October 8, 1878

▪ May 10, 1878
▪ April 28, 1877
▪ April 12, 1876
▪ April 8, 1875
▪ May 26, 1874
▪ November 7, 1873

Sir John A. Macdonald (Liberal-Conservative)
July 1, 1867 to November 5, 1873

▪ August 13, 1873
▪ June 14, 1872
▪ April 14, 1871
▪ May 12, 1870
▪ June 22, 1869
▪ May 22, 1868