Thank you so much, Madam Chair.
It is important to point out that previous Conservative and Liberal governments have prorogued for much less than a once-in-a-century pandemic and have not even had to explain themselves in a report or otherwise, as our government has done.
I would like to talk about former prime minister Harper's use of prorogation, which wasn't followed by reports from the government of the day. The recess for Mr. Harper took Canada into uncharted constitutional territory and created a political vacuum at a time of global economic crisis.
I'd like to quote from The New York Times:
Canada’s parliamentary opposition reacted with outrage on Thursday after Prime Minister Stephen Harper shut down the legislature until Jan. 26, seeking to forestall a no-confidence vote that he was sure to lose and, possibly, provoking a constitutional crisis....
The opposition fiercely criticized the decision to suspend Parliament, accusing Mr. Harper of undermining the nation’s democracy. “We have to say to Canadians, ‘Is this the kind of government you want?’” said Bob Rae, a member of the opposition Liberal Party. “Do we want a party in place that is so undemocratic that it will not meet the House of Commons?”
That sentiment was echoed by constitutional scholars, who lamented that the governor general might have created a mechanism that future prime ministers could use to bypass the legislature when it seemed convenient.
This was the first time any Parliament members or constitutional scholars here could recall the manoeuver being used in the midst of a political crisis and over the objections of Parliament.
“This really has been a blow to parliamentary democracy in Canada”, said Nelson Wiseman, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto. “It has lowered the status of the elected Parliament and raised the status of the unelected prime minister.”
Canadians were outraged by former prime minister Harper's use of prorogation, with reports noting how thousands took to the streets to protest:
Thousands of people attended rallies in towns and cities across Canada...to speak out against Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to suspend Parliament.... More than 60 rallies were planned across Canada....
Thousands of protesters gathered at Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto to protest the suspension of Parliament. Some took the demonstration onto the street, chanting and waving placards as they marched down Yonge Street....
“It's about the masses and their voice being heard,” Sonya Stanger, 18, said. “You know, representation of the masses, and that's not what's happening right now.”
Mr. Turnbull's amendment is just meant to bring more focus, to bring the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth to the motion of Mrs. Vecchio and allow us to move on to something substantive.
Again, let's look at reactions to prorogation. I would like to quote briefly from another story:
In a display that was anything but apathetic, thousands of Canadians of varying political stripes clogged city streets across Canada demanding Prime Minister Stephen Harper reopen Parliament and get back to work.
Hordes of protesters crammed Toronto's downtown square, cradling signs denouncing the Prime Minister's decision to suspend Parliament.... More than 3,000 people closed down a busy section of Yonge Street to sing, march and chant....
A more subdued Jason Young, 36, stood quietly besides the chanting protesters. He said he was not a partisan person, but had begun to resent Harper’s interpretation of democracy.
“I hope there are a lot of people who would identify themselves as conservatives here today, because all Canadians should be concerned about this,” he said.
Another small group had their own dramatic interpretation of the suspension of Parliament. Several pallbearers dressed in black walked behind a bag piper and carried a coffin with poster of parliament inside, hoisting a sign that read “democracy is dead.”...
“I came to Canada to escape dictatorship”, said Massoud Hasson, 66, an immigrant from Pakistan who was attending his first public rally.
The point is, thousands of Canadians protested proroguing Parliament. It was a crisis that shook the nation. There was no accountability and no need to explain to Canadians why the prorogation was necessary.
Again, in the words of Maclean's, Mr. Harper's “failure to frankly explain why he should be allowed to postpone facing a confidence vote in the House...seemed evasive.”
Again, in stark contrast—