Denoument of exciting Canadian politics

[bronnyelsp]

Yesterday Harper went to Governor-General Jean and requested that she grant him a proroguement of Parliament. It wasn't just a wild rumour. He seriously, bare-faced, went to the head of state and said, hey, seeing as I'm about to lose the confidence of Parliament here, can I have a two months breather and shut down ParliamentEven more stunning

Comments

[bronnyelsp]

I think by convention the details of their meeting remain confidential, but some small word of what happened has leaked out. It took two hours for him to convince her, anyway.

There are those who say that given that since 1926 the Governor-General has, de facto, been solely a figurehead and rubber-stamper of the PM's decisions, that it has basically become precedent that she should remain so (which I don't buy) or at least that it appears that way/she should have very strong reasons for departing from that (which I am more open to -- I just think that those strong reasons were apparent on the current facts).

Because she was appointed by a Liberal Prime Minister and is a former journalist, the Conservatives have long viewed her with suspicion. There were even attempts to claim she was a supporter of Quebec independance when she was first installed. So it has been said that for her to turn down a Conservative Prime Minister's request would have appeared party political, ie, that she was biased towards the Liberals/left.

I have no doubt that that is the way the Conservatives would have spun it. But I don't think such decisions should be based on What People Will Think.