Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is resigning as leader of the Liberal Party and has requested and been granted a prorogation of Parliament until March 24th.
Come on - this is all so silly and dirty - the government, not just the PM, has clearly lost the support of Parliament and the general public - so we are now going to give them an 80 day timeout so they can pick a new leader for an election that will follow weeks later - so now Canada sits in the corner sucking its thumb with no leadership for 80 days, while an orange idiot craps all over the carpet because of some arcane law that dates back to the Magna Carta - great, it’s legal, doesn’t make it anything less than galactically stupid and wrong
We are not "leaderless". The government continues, with the full authority it has always had. Most of the response to Trump would not be legislative, and certainly none of it will be in legislation passed in the next two months anyway.
I don't understand what law you're referring to or how the Magna Carta is relevant to this (it's not).
I guess your sense of democracy would be an election forced on Canadians where they have to vote without even knowing who the Liberal leader would be, but mine would prefer to wait a couple of months to have a free and fair vote.
Yes - Emmett, but the alternative here was not a government that was going to legislate, but rather a government that was going to be voted down and an election scheduled - instead, we are giving what polls suggest is the 3rd and maybe 4th most popular choice in Canada an 80 day timeout to get its shit together just so we can hold that election - if PP had stepped down on Friday, would the Liberals have hesitated to call an election 2 days later in hopes of catching the PC without a leader? I get it, they can legally ask the GG to do this, but less than 20% of the country wants this and while you may believe Canada is not going to be leaderless for the next two months+, just ask Dems in the U.S. how they feel about Joe Biden and leadership since Election Day
Not exactly sure what you're asking. I suspect you'd find there were prorogations when Mulroney and Chretien resigned, but they would likely have been brief because both enjoyed majority governments.
From the GG's perspective, I suppose. But I'd say if the Liberal Party can't meet that deadline it would be because they intentionally weren't trying to, and at that point (from a democratic rather than constitutional perspective), they should be made to suffer the consequences!
Thanks as always for your educational posts.
Come on - this is all so silly and dirty - the government, not just the PM, has clearly lost the support of Parliament and the general public - so we are now going to give them an 80 day timeout so they can pick a new leader for an election that will follow weeks later - so now Canada sits in the corner sucking its thumb with no leadership for 80 days, while an orange idiot craps all over the carpet because of some arcane law that dates back to the Magna Carta - great, it’s legal, doesn’t make it anything less than galactically stupid and wrong
We are not "leaderless". The government continues, with the full authority it has always had. Most of the response to Trump would not be legislative, and certainly none of it will be in legislation passed in the next two months anyway.
I don't understand what law you're referring to or how the Magna Carta is relevant to this (it's not).
I guess your sense of democracy would be an election forced on Canadians where they have to vote without even knowing who the Liberal leader would be, but mine would prefer to wait a couple of months to have a free and fair vote.
Yes - Emmett, but the alternative here was not a government that was going to legislate, but rather a government that was going to be voted down and an election scheduled - instead, we are giving what polls suggest is the 3rd and maybe 4th most popular choice in Canada an 80 day timeout to get its shit together just so we can hold that election - if PP had stepped down on Friday, would the Liberals have hesitated to call an election 2 days later in hopes of catching the PC without a leader? I get it, they can legally ask the GG to do this, but less than 20% of the country wants this and while you may believe Canada is not going to be leaderless for the next two months+, just ask Dems in the U.S. how they feel about Joe Biden and leadership since Election Day
Actually, President Biden has been quite busy.
"The current circumstances requires a prorogation; there was no meaningful alternative in the face of a PM’s resignation as party leader."
What has changed since the days of Mulroney and Chretien?
Not exactly sure what you're asking. I suspect you'd find there were prorogations when Mulroney and Chretien resigned, but they would likely have been brief because both enjoyed majority governments.
Question: if the Liberal Party cannot elect a new leader by March 24, can the prorogation be extended?
If, as you say, the logic of the prorogation is “for the government party to replace its leader”?
From the GG's perspective, I suppose. But I'd say if the Liberal Party can't meet that deadline it would be because they intentionally weren't trying to, and at that point (from a democratic rather than constitutional perspective), they should be made to suffer the consequences!
Thanks. I understand the Liberal Party has a mechanism for a shorter race (h/t Jamie Carroll).