Prorogue Parliament and the Senate while we're at it!

Critics of Prime Minister Harper's move to prorogue Parliament (again) miss the much larger point which is the dysfunctionality of our Parliamentary system.

It is a system where a minority government can effectively govern like a majority due to opinion polls that scare two of the three leaders of the opposition.  It is often said that the only polls that matter are those on election day....that is not true in our system where a governing party will dissolve Parliament when the polls are favourable and where opposition parties will decline to bring down a government that does not enjoy the confidence of the House of Commons when the polls because the polls say that the opposition would lose.

Our House of Commons doesn't need to be a "House" as the vast majority of members are irrelevant.  The math is very simple....if Harper wants to do something, all it takes is one of the three opposition leaders fearing an election to let Harper have his way.   We saw the irrelevance of the backbencher a year ago when the three leaders of the opposition decided to get together and anoint one of them (Stephane Dion) the Prime Minister.  This was unpopular with Canadians (who had decisively rejected that option).  This was unpopular with Liberal members who were preparing to dump their leader.  This was unpopular with Bloc members who could not forgive Dion's taunting letters on Separatism.  This was unpopular with New Democrat MPs as well.  After Parliament was prorogued, the united opposition fell apart and Harper was safe....now Jack Layton and Michael Ignatieff take turns propping up the Tories for fear of an election.

Harper did not win a majority the last time around.  The concept of the "confidence of the house" is the problem.  Why does losing a government sponsored vote mean that a new election must be held?  If Health Care reform fails to pass Congress, should Obama resign the Presidency and a new election held?  Or perhaps if Obama thought that the polls are favourable now, he will orchestrate a failure of a bill to trigger an election and give himself a fresh 4 year mandate.  Sound ridiculous?  That is exactly what Chretien did and what Harper did and what Mulroney did, etc,etc.

However silly this all sounds, it pales in comparison to the absurdity of our Senate.  During this prorogue, Harper will appoint Senators (as is his right under our current system) and will give the Tories the majority in the Senate.  So the Senate will swing from a Liberal majority to a Conservative majority.  Neither of these parties has managed with win a majority from the Canadian people since the election of 2000.

William F Buckley once said that Canada was saddled with the most feeble Conservative party in the English speaking world.  How sad that we now have the most feeble Liberal party in the English speaking world.

Our democracy is weaker for it however the people don't really seem to care.  Perhaps that is the real problem.