Why did the Liberals, respected Parliamentarians, pull off this stunt in Parliament? How come they showed off their boastful tribal colours in our national legislator just because a particular member (Justin) won a fight against a Conservative Senator?
A Parliamentarian, again, acting frivolous. Presenting a (clever) poem in theme and style to Twas the Night Before Christmas, summing up the issues with the Conservative government. Why would he desecrate the serious institution with such juvenile shenanigans?
These whimsical acts occur, not because the Liberals or small-l-liberals are unprofessional and stupid. These silly gestures are not the result of a opposition, looking for every way to humiliate the Conservative government. It is not childishness that cause these displays. This is a reaction to the continuous assault on Parliamentary democracy from our ruling party.
Our opposition MPs continue to show up to their job, when their job is servilely impeded on. Their job is to hold the government accountable, and offer alternatives when they see fit. And boy, have they tried.
They propose amendments – which get voted down. They voice concern – which gets ignored. And they try to influence meaningful change – which doesn’t happen. This is, ultimately, the result of a government with no regard for individual Members of Parliament, and especially not Opposition members.
Bills need to be passed with a majority, and under a majority government, the executive autocrats in the party push what they want through by whipping their members to adhere to what the guy in the PMO wants. Analysis and comments not necessary, in fact, they’re discouraged. What goes on internally in a party naturally stifles much dissent, but these rulings go even further than internally.
Now, what about the opposition, who are relatively free? Aye, they are free, but powerless. Three recent rulings by the Conservative speaker lament the oppositions irrelevance to governing under a majority government. One, the government doesn’t have to answer any questions from opposition, the speaker ruled. Second, the government can limit debate in Parliament as much as they want, as long as they allocate at least 5 hours for debate. Third, they can make their legislation as large as they want – there is no limit to the size of a bill.
5 hours. That’s what the hundreds of elected members of Parliament get. The majority of Canadians voted for the NDP members, the Liberal members, the Bloc, and yes, even Elizabeth May. And this is what they get: 5 hours. And not even 5 hours of action, 5 hours to be merely heard. But that is it, as any amendments will be surely voted down, and any suggestions surely ignored. This is what Parliament has become; not a democracy, but a merely a rubber stamp for the autocrat’s interest.
This utterly removes the opposition from any meaningful role they could at one point at least feign. The Conservatives have been limiting debate quite frequently, and now they have the ‘justification’ to continue doing it. In their eyes, the opposition is merely a pest, and a pest is not worth listening to.
Opposition members are completely unempowered and emasculated. They show up, sure, but they can only shout, for the minimum of 5 hours, and, ultimately, nothing will happen. They’re elected, but dejected.
This is why they resort to what would seem to be foolish acts – it’s all they have. They seek amusement, they seek vindictiveness, they seek pettiness – it’s all they have. They are treated like less than children – to be ignored. So, in turn, they joke, they josh, they poke and they cry.
They are a product of a government that despises Parliament. They are the product of a incremental erosion of what Parliament should be: a representative democracy.
