Off season?

Political news seems to be banned for the next few weeks in deference to the Olympics.  Even that old standby, CTV's Question Period, is headed off the air until early March, we learned yesterday, and there's a general sense in Ottawa that the city will effectively shut down, politically, anyway, until March.

This morning, I went looking  for what kind of political news was happening the last time the Olympics were held in Canada -- in Calgary, in 1988, from Feb. 13-28.  Though I was here in Ottawa then (just arrived, actually, as a young reporter), I couldn't really recall if it was down-tools then too.

Here's what I found.

• Prime Minister Brian Mulroney introduced conflict-of-interest legislation in the House of Commons. 
•  Liberal opposition critics Herb Gray and Lloyd Axworthy went to Washington to talk about proposed  free trade.
• NDP MP Svend Robinson decided to publicly announce that he was gay (and several days later, his constituency-office windows were smashed.) 
• Conservative MP Andre Bissonnette was cleared of fraud charges in court and welcomed back into Mulroney's caucus.  
• A House of Commons committee wrapped up its inquiry into the election spending of cabinet minister Marcel Masse. 
• The federal government's spending estimates were tabled.
• A group of Conservative backbenchers proposed amendments to effectively gut the official-languages law in Canada.
• The federal Conservatives held a caucus meeting in Ottawa. 

I guess the conclusion must be that we were more capable then, 22 years ago,  of paying attention to politics and sports at the same time. Or maybe the next few weeks will be equally busy here... who knows?

Comments

[Herta]

Hi Susan,
Perhaps you should check out the Canadians against Prorogation of Parliament Facebook site.....political events and discussions continue happening. People are still engaged and interested, it's just the media that's taken a holiday.

[MyThought]

Very interesting indeed.

From what I understand, no government, anywhere, ever, closed down their government duties for the Olympics until Harper.

[Jim M]

Too bad there is nothing that opposition parties and the Governor General can do to replace the PM before Disgustus Caesar gets booed out of the Olympic Games by his own subjects. Or is there something that GG and OP can do?

[John Merritt]

That sounds good. We were more capable in 1988 than now. However the truth be told it is probably a great time for everytime to take a vacation, enjoy your neighbor (Canada), get some fresh air, and bask in the glory of your countryman playing sport in the great outdoors. It is probably not a bad time for the Senate, Congress and your Parliments to figure out what they are going to do next, because they are making us all dizzy trying to keep up with their antics. Got to love them, sometimes I do long for 1988 again. Have a wonderful week guys and gals.

[MyOwnView]

Could the Olympics be one long extended Friday afternoon?

I wish somebody would think we the Canadian public were capable of so much more than being able to manage one focus at a time.

[geo]

So Ignatieff makes a big stink about going back to work in Ottawa and a week later I read this from Ignatieff's interview about the Games,on CTV:

"We're going to be there a lot. One of the nice things about my job is that the Prime Minister, the Governor-General and the Leader of the Opposition get an [Olympic] pass, so I will be going to as many events as I can."

What was the big deal about heading for the Hill to do "work"?

Is this another Danny Williams thing,do as I say,not as I do?

[jenna]

So back in 1988 it was business as usual for the Mulroney government. That couldn't have had anything to do with the fact that the Olympics were taking place in some little hick town in Western Canda, could it ? Back then our Olympic athletes were amateurs, who received little support from the government or anyone else. I think we ended up with a grand total of 3 medals.

But Canada today is a different country. People care more about things like national pride, athletes are celebrated for excellence, and rewarded for their success.

Ask just about anyone except a died-in-the-wool political junkie if they would rather watch Question Period or cheer on our athletes, and I think the answer would be overwhelmingly in favour of the Olympics.

[Sarann]

Oh dear. Oh dear. And I am so tired of the games already. I live in an isolated community with a broken down arena and I think of how that billion dollars of security money could help those of us who need recreation money and how everyone is telling us there is no more money for health care. And the eleven million that Gary Lund just liberated for training could be spent on somethng that benefits all Canadians too, instead of just a few. Perhaps those athletes are like someone else said in another comment line 'athletic welfare bums.'

[ConEd]

To be fair, we do have more TV channels now.

[Jim M]

The following instrumental version of Stairway to Heaven is performed by the PSO.
(Prorogation Symphony Orchestra of Canada;) http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/song/Stairway+To+Heaven/14212193