Seen at 24 Sussex

One of my colleagues here at The Star's Ottawa bureau just snapped this photo as he drove past the Prime Minister's residence on Sussex Drive.

Comments

[Scott Bond]

If I am Joe Smith from Scarborough and am worried about feeding my family and paying my mortgage and other bills do I really give a rats -ss that parliament has been prorogued.!!!!!!!!!! I THINK NOT.
If the Toronto Star and the Liberal Party (which are one in the same) and NDP and BQ are so outraged at this prorogation why dont they have the political balls to defeat the conservatives at the first opportunity in the spring.

Its very easy to set up your little facebook page and pretend to be outraged like the Star and the other opposition parties are but if they are that upset put their jobs on the line and defeat the Harper Government in Parliament and let Canadians give their verdict on this prorogation.
S.BOND.

[bettie]

Ms Delacourt... everyone can see you are trying your very level best!!

[Joe Smith]

Please don't speak on my behalf.

[Cam]

Mr. Bond--

The Conservatives announced this prorogation (which goes against their stated position while in Opposition) during the Xmas vacation on the same day the Olympic hockey team roster was announced. That doesn't suggest to me that they were A) proud of this step or B) that they actually wanted Canadians to know about it.

If the Opposition is doing there job here, it is first to inform Canadians what has happened, since it's clear that the Conservatives did not want that knowledge known. This was clear by Stephen Harper not going to the Governor General to request prorogation. He would have had to step out of his house to do that, and that might have put him into contact with a real person.

I think most taxpayers, when informed that Harper gave himself a 2 month vacation will have the same reaction: Get back to work.

[The Old One]

The pic looks like it is of another "chicken little" the sky is falling types that seems so enraptured with things leaning to the left. May be possible that this little time out is just what the politicians need. Maybe they can figure out how not to waste our money on their puffed up inquiry du jour or sit back while bills passed in the house get dismantled by a bunch of hack appointees. Imagine, unelected people who were good hockey players, figure skaters, bagmen for their parties, biased political reporters, rights group activists etc etc deciding what Bills passed by the house after committee study and the benefit of advice from a professional civil service get passed as they were approved by the house. What a freaking folly. Perhaps fear of a balanced Senate will jump start some discussion on abolishing the senate rather than the liberals feigning non complicity in hold up of legislation in the senate while it was stacked in their favour. No hue and cry as the liberals stacked the Senate with party faithful so why now. So this little time out extends the traditional Xmas break by 22 days...so what did they do the last 22 days beside cause mischief and without any international pressure decide to publicly condemn our country and soldiers as war criminals in front of the world. Anything Harper did or didn't do at Copenhagen pales in significance to the slander on the country presented by the opposition.I am embarassed that some of our elected officials and supporters have so little regard for the country that they would destroy the hard and well earned reputation of our nation and our military. Perhaps Forest Gump had it right...Stupid is as Stupid does. Use the time out wisely and think about what you are doing. BTW, The mission is run by the UN and NATO, not Canada, if there are detainee issues, it is theirs to resolve. Our Country and military have made a significant contribution as arranged by the liberals and it didn't include baby sitting Taliban detainees.

[The Old One]

Mr. Bond...perhaps this was a belated Xmas present to the leader of the opposition to give him time to get back from France or perhaps figure out how to condemn the Govt for detainee handling when he has been the only Canadian that I am aware of that wrote in support of sometimes necessary torture. Fact is the phoney issue of Taliban detainees that they feel great urgency to get back to is a non starter with most Canadians and if that's all the opposition wanted to talk about, the extra time off should be welcomed. Fact is Canada and its soldiers have not tortured anyone. Our mission does not require us to become jailers. That role is reserved for the UN which is responsible for our participation. Is it possible that we were expected to take no prisoners like the Taliban so no provisions were made for oversight? Too bad our soldiers are much more humane than their enemy. And while Iggy was away vacationing in France, the cons were busy working to get new airport security in place so that those nice people that are getting so much house attention can't actually start blowing up people here at home. Fancy that. Likely Harper has also been working over the Xmas break developing his list of new senate appointees that will finally rid the country of liberal dominence in the senate that has been dismantling bills passed by the HOC. How outrageous can one group be? To boot, he's been doing this while Iggy vacationed "Out Of Country" guess he doesn't like Canadian winters.

[chu]

I hate the Toronto star that kind of pro-Liberals.
If the oppositions want to clear Harper's air just defeat him, it is so easy.Then, Iggy will be the PM and period.
I'm no interest in detainee issue, it is out-dated story.

[Gabby in QC]

Cam at 7:20 PM: "... since it's clear that the Conservatives did not want that knowledge known."

And of course, the Conservatives being as secretive as the media says they are, there was NO mention nor speculation in the media whatsoever about prorogation prior to the actual announcement, nor any coverage and commentary after the announcement confirmed it, right?

How the Conservatives have failed! They wanted to keep this thing a secret but everybody’s talking about it! Here they were, trying to keep all Canadians in the dark, but somebody -- oh, oh! I think I saw Dimitri Soudas himself on the CBC -- blabbed to the media.

OK, so I'm being facetious ... but seriously ... Parliament was scheduled to resume on Jan. 25 after the customary Christmas recess. Count the working days from Jan 25 to March 3. That’s 27 days. Take away the 11 working days during which the Olympics will be held (Feb 12 to Feb 28) and that leaves 16 days that Parliament will not be sitting because of prorogation. Even if the Olympic days are not subtracted, that still leaves only 27 days.

Your statement then that “Harper gave himself a 2 month vacation” on account of prorogation -- i.e. about 42 working days off -- is an overblown exaggeration.

[Moosecall]

Prorogation can only solve all of Mr. Harper's problems for just so long. As much as he can tell the public what the public "thinks", it too can only last for so long. People are rebelling. Still he looks right at protestors or a tv camera and says they "don't care". Tricky Dick acted like that. Doesn't the PM get it? As of now and what his mantra is, he just doesn't.

Even the Progressive Conservatives are considered "evil conservatives" because they don't particularly care or back his policies. When an election is called, all the reasons to not vote for the opposition will be flown into the faces of voters.

Somehow he forgets voters see NO REASON TO KEEP STEPHEN HARPER IN OFFICE.

He isn't giving Canadians a reason to vote for him. Rather he has given Canadians many many reasons to get out and NOT VOTE FOR HARPER.

Oh well. As an ex Conservative, I'll keep to the "red". Stephen Harper's is shameful, and embarrasing. Not just torture is behind Mr.Harper's reason for pororguing parliament. It is time to Pororgue Stephen Harper!

Bye Bye Stephen.

[Cam]

Gabby- I know you are brighter than that. It's not just the sitting days of Parliament. If it was, why the rush to prorogue so early?

It was about shutting the Afghanistan Committee looking into the detainee matter. How democratic of them.

Your talking points can try to highlight the "sitting days" angle (and most working Canadians still won't get that amount of time off this year) but the fact is the Conservatives shut down an embarrassing committee for themselves, and wasted a ton of taxpayers money in terms of the bills that dies on the order paper.

Kind of rich for Ministers like Nicholson to be complaining about how his law and order bills weren't being rushed through when his own government kills them.

[Gabby in QC]

Cam, I don't know how many times I have to post a link to this place http://www.parl.gc.ca/compendium/web-content/c_g_parliamentarycycle-e.htm under “Prorogation of Parliament."

If you didn't read it here when I first posted it, it might benefit you to do so now. The argument that all the bills die is not necessarily true. If the House agrees, those bills can be reinstated. Since the opposition has expressed much consternation and outright outrage at the thought all that work would go to waste, as Bob Rae phrased it, I'm eager to see the opposition agree to a motion reinstating those bills and agreeing to fast-track them.
However, rehashing this entire thing does not diminish the fact your "2 month vacation" remains a gross overstatement ... regardless of whether you think I'm "brighter than that."