The contemptuous...or contemptible...Mr. Harper

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper made one of his infrequent revelations of his true self on Monday. In an interview with BNN (Business News Network) he let slip his true feelings about Parliament.

He is openly contemptuous of it. He dismisses it an unnecessary check on his power to govern Canada. He wishes it would just go away.

Mr. Harper (I will no longer write "Call Me Steve", for he reveals himself as a dangerous autocrat, and ought to be taken more seriously) actually said that having Parliament sitting creates instability, because your elected representatives, Canadian friends, like to "play games" like holding enquiries into Harper's decisions regarding Afghanistan, or calling for votes on his legislation, or generally asking his lordship to be accountable to the people.

Yes, the Prime Minister, who holds office by grace of the votes of about 37% of the 50-odd percent of Canadians who bothered to vote, suggested that his prorogation of Parliament gives him the opportunity to do the serious business of the nation without the distractions of democracy, e.g. having to appear during Question Period to answer those annoying queries from opposition MPs.

Here are a couple of other viewpoints.

The Harper government's attack sheep, the pencil-necked Tony Clement, said that prorogation was only of interest to "the chattering classes" and certain "Ottawa elites". He'd only had "around three dozen" e-mails from his constituents in snowbound Parry Sound, Clement said. Walt says that if 36 voters in Parry Sound, where the chief concern is getting out of winter's blast, bestir themselves to e-mail their M.P., the issue is one of serious concern!

Also yesterday, Mr. Harper’s sometime mentor and chief of staff, Tom Flanagan, now teaching politics at the University of Calgary, gave his own explanation for prorogation. On CBC's Power & Politics with Evan Solomon the professor said that everyone knows the only reason Mr. Harper prorogued was to “shut down the Afghan inquiry.” Mr. Flanagan was talking about the special Commons committee investigation into the Afghan detainee affair. The committee now finds itself silenced as a result of the prorogation.

Mr. Flanagan also said that it's too bad Mr. Harper doesn't really like democracy. Exactly. Contemptible.

A couple of days ago I gave you a link to en editorial in the Economist saying just that. In case you didn't read the piece, let me just quote the last paragraph. Read it and heed it.

Mr. Harper is a competent tactician with a ruthless streak. He bars most ministers from talking to the media; he has axed some independent watchdogs; he has binned [British English for "trashed", ed.] campaign promises to make government more open and accountable. Now he is subjecting Parliament to prime-ministerial whim.

He may be right that most Canadians care more about the luge than the legislature, but that is surely true only while their decent system of government is in good hands. They may soon conclude that it isn't.