Governor General gives Harper seven weeks to rally

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Willowdale MP Martha Hall Findlay would have given anything for Ed Schreyer to have been Canada's governor general yesterday.

On Wednesday, Schreyer, governor general from 1979 to 1984, publicly said that granting Prime Minister Stephen Harper's request to suspend Parliament until the end of January would amount to an evasion of the Parliamentary process purely for the Conservatives' political purposes.

"Nothing should be done to aid and abet the evasion of submitting to the will of Parliament," he said, adding that proroguing Parliament should only be done in a true emergency.

"The only emergency seems to be a desire (of Harper) to avoid facing Parliament. That is not an emergency."

But Governor General Michaelle Jean didn't heed her predecessor's advice.

After meeting with Harper for about 90 minutes Thursday morning, she agreed that Parliament will be shut down until Jan. 26, with the Conservatives bringing down a budget the following day.

Hall Findlay believes Jean has established a risky precedent.

"I'm not happy with her decision. It has set out a very dangerous precedent for every prime minister when faced with a vote of non-confidence," she said from Ottawa Thursday afternoon.

"She's the governor general, we have to respect her decision. I think it was wrong. It was wrong because it allowed him (Harper) to hide from the voice of the people. We (MPs) were elected by the Canadian people a very short time ago."

The majority of the House of Commons, elected by Canadians, has lost confidence in the Conservatives' ability to lead Canada through the global economic crisis, Hall Findlay said.

Canadians should now brace themselves for "one of the biggest propaganda wars" from the Conservatives between now and when Parliament resumes, she said.

If the Liberal-NDP coalition, with the support of the Bloc Quebecois, had been allowed to govern, Canadians would instead have seen their government addressing the economic crisis, Hall Findlay said.

"We want to govern. We offered an alternative to govern. A time of economic crisis demands governance. We are no longer able to do that. The doors have been shut," she said.

Hall Findlay is also speaking directly to her constituents and other Canadians through her Facebook account.

"Right now, so soon after an election, with no other parliamentary business happening, the only reason Harper is asking for it (Parliament to be suspended) is to avoid a non-confidence motion," she said in a message posted at 10:15 a.m. Thursday while Harper was in his meeting with Jean.

"It is worth repeating: If the GG (governor general) grants prorogation, it will set the precedent that at any time in the future, any time a PM (prime minister) wants to avoid a non-confidence vote, s/he can just prorogue."