Frankly, I don't know why Liberals would spend much time defending or akiacttng the past. They are all highly distinguishable from what Harper has done here.It is not just prorogation that is the issue here. It is prorogation in the face of serious accountability questions and plummetting polls.It is the length of prorogation and shutting down committees.It is a pattern of systematically shutting any Parliamentary committee that asks tough accountability questions, like he did with Justice, Environment, Ethics all before he shut down the special committee on Afghanistan.It is frustrating the work of independent oversight and accountability commissions, like the Information Commission and the Military Police Complaints Commission, ignoring their orders requiring the production of documents and information, fighting them tooth and nail to prevent witnessess coming forward, fighting them in court.It is about Harper punishing the independent civil servants in charge of accountability for crossing him: firing the MPCC chair, firing the Information Commissioner, firing the head of AECL, slashing the budget of the Budget Office and not providing him with required information.It is being in contempt of Parliament by ignoring a Parliamentary subpoena.It is not just about an 83 day Harper Holiday so Conservative MPs can enjoy a longer stay in California or head off to pricey tickets at the Olympics, but a core governance issue of accountability and democracy. That's why almost 30,000 Canadians from over 50 cities went out to protest on a cold January day, why Harper has lost a 15% advantage in a month, why 220,000 Canadians signed up on a Facebook page (many many of whom had never joined a political group of any kind before).

by Gricelda 06:01:19 PM 2012.06.18