Monday, January 25, 2010

Where were our local representatives?



The whole issue of the prorogation of parliament has been an awakening of sorts for a growing and vocal part of the population who believe as I do that the recent prorogation was improperly used as a means to end dissent, hide from investigation and thwart the will of the Parliament which had demanded documents the Government did not wish to produce.

The power of prorogation is not evil or wrong, it is in fact a normal procedure that is generally used as a means of closing the books on one session of parliament so that a new fresh agenda can be set with an immediate throne speech; using prorogation in this manner is both normal and ethical.

Closing down a parliamentary session while there is still a full agenda of unfinished business resulting in the death of 37 pieces of legislation is not normal. Prorogation while a government is being investigated for serious breaches possibly including violations of the Geneva Convention may be legal but is neither normal nor ethical.

Now this topic has been argued by all parts of the political spectrum and I’m not going to rehash it all again here in this forum. What I would like to know is where our local politicians stand on this issue? After all, this entire question speaks to their interpretation of ethics, what democracy should look like and their overall concern with the issues that seem to matter to the masses. I don’t care what the newspapers claim about the Jan 23 protests because I know that getting 200 people from Newmarket/Aurora protesting about anything in January is indicative of a much larger public concern, hence our local leaders should speak to this issue.

Now I would like to thank the local politicians who did contact the Canadians against Proroguing Parliament Newmarket/Aurora Branch and take part in the protest. Both John Taylor the Regional Councillor for York Region and Chris Emanuel a Newmarket Town Councillor attended and spoke at this event and it was much appreciated, but where do all the others stand on this important issue? Where was our Mayor, the other councillors and all those wannabes intent on running this fall? Aurora residents should be asking the same questions.

I don’t think all politicians necessarily needed to come out to the protest but I do think we have the right to know how they see the issue; are they for prorogation, against prorogation, don’t care or don’t understand the issue? Others will argue it’s justified and I want to hear these explanations too because these are people who want to represent us and we deserve to know their political beliefs and gauge their credibility

Further, I’d love to see a town council motion (yes I know it’s only a non binding statement ) demanding Parliament get back to fixing the economy and repairing our tarnished international image by allowing full transparency and cooperation on the Afghan detainee investigation. Total pipe dream I know but it doesn’t hurt to try. Hell, they may even decide to vote a motion in favour of Prorogation, yet we still have the right to know that’s how they feel.

While I don’t support their views the pro prorogue forces also have the same right to know what their local reps think! So speak up and demand answers from anyone who asks for your vote.

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