Parliament has been prorogued until March. Should Canadians be concerned?
Parliament is the accountability forum for our government and it is dangerous for a democracy to accept that for almost three months, there will not be any official forum to ask questions from the government. This is particularly troublesome since issues of accountability with respect to the treatment of Afghan detainees required immediate attention.
Troublesome as well is the impression that emerges that there is no work left to be done for Parliamentarians while poverty and homelessness continue to grow, while human rights, privacy and national security laws should be revamped and while issues on the treatment of Canadians abroad need to be addressed.
Although CCLA welcomes the abandonment of several bills that were tabled in front of the House: bills that sought to diminish our privacy, increase police powers and impose mandatory minimum jail sentences, we are concerned that democracy has lost the ability to formally debate such questions and do its work. We are also concerned that they will be re-introduced in the next session of Parliament when the snow has melted.
