The Threat of Prorogation. . . . .

Most people in the media and even in the blogosphere are putting the prorogation of parliament in its proper perspective and they see it for what it is; a blatant and ruthless attempt to avoid accountability by a Prime Minister who hates democracy and sees the majority of our elected representatives as a bothersome restriction on what he thinks is his God-given right to govern. I have, however, seen the occasional article suggesting that the prorogation is not a threat to democracy. One in particular I read in the Ottawa Citizen yesterday which attempted to make a point by point argument about why prorogation was no big deal. The problem is that no matter how extensively one argues the details concerning the role of Parliament, the Prime Minister, and the Governor General, you cannot overcome the most basic problem. The fact is that when the Prime Minister, or any government executive, has the right to shut down the legislative branch of government on whim simply to avoid pressing questions, democracy is at threat. This is particularly true when we understand democracy not as a fixed state of affairs but as an ideal toward which we are always working. When we see democracy in this light it is easy to see that any action that undermines the movement toward this ideal is, a priori, a threat to democracy. 

There is no question that under any conditions prorogation is a threat to democracy, and this threat is even more pronounced when the prorogation is undertaken by a Prime Minster who is feeling the heat and just wants to avoid political questions and further his political ambitions. To lesson the threat to democracy the power of the executive over the legislative branch of government must be curtailed and dates of legislative sittings should be fixed and only alterable by the general will of the house (preferably a two thirds majority). These are the kinds of things which would push us further toward democratic accountability and away from the arbitrary power of the executive. 

If you don't think that prorogation is a threat to democracy then you just aren't paying attention and you don't understand democracy. This is not to suggest that tomorrow we will find ourselves in a complete dictatorship. But democracy is always delicate and vulnerable, our gains must be diligently protected and we must always work for greater levels of justice, accountability, and participation. We clearly have a Prime Minister and Government who are desperately working to reverse the gains toward democracy that we have made and which, in John Baird's words, is looking to "replace accountability with corruption." There is no question that democracy is being threatened, the question is how will Canadians respond?