Procedure and House Affairs committee  I know you want me to say yes or no.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I don't know if this is a yes-or-no thing. I don't think the prorogation in 2020 was necessary. Where I get willing to use the word “abuse” is when there are clear questions, and it seems to me that a first minister has a confidence crisis.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That's a very important question. I think it's really difficult at this point. We're still in the eye of this thing. With increasing variants, it's scary to think about how long we're going to be locked down. I think we've already seen evidence of the fact that there are vulnerable populations whose challenges have only become worse.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  There's nothing in the Standing Orders that says what the government's answer has to be. The government is free to offer its narrative on why it prorogued, but I don't think it's possible to look at the situation and ignore the other narrative that was dominant at the time.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The only justification for that would be if there was a question about whether the Prime Minister had the confidence of the House. I think if the confidence is there, then the advice would be seen as binding, whereas if confidence is lost or about to be lost.... That's why 2008 was an issue, because there was a question about whether the confidence was there.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  At the time, in the months before the prorogation, the government was facing intense committee investigation and media scrutiny because of the decision to give the WE organization the opportunity to administer a $900-million student grant program. The processes that unpacked over the summer were in two different committees.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It did. Definitely.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  This is why we could never make Democratizing the Constitution a movie, because the title just sucks. I think the most that we can do in terms of trying to put some parameters around something like prorogation.... I think there are democratic justifications for doing that. It's hard for people to accept that a prime minister makes the decision—on the basis of advice but really it's his decision—unilaterally to summon, dissolve and prorogue Parliament.