OTTAWA — Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff is urging Stephen Harper to seriously consider proposals to rein in the prime minister’s power to suspend Parliament.
In a letter to Harper on Monday, Ignatieff said the first order of business when Parliament resumes March 3 should be the creation of a special committee to study ways to blunt the prorogation power.
The letter was in response to the prime minister’s invitation to suggest measures Liberals could support during the new session. Ignatieff used the opportunity to again berate Harper for deciding to prorogue rather than resume parliamentary business as scheduled Jan. 25.
“You sacrificed your entire legislative agenda simply to avoid the kind of accountability and transparency you once promised to deliver,” Ignatieff wrote. “By shutting down Parliament for over two months with no reasonable explanation, you made it impossible for parliamentarians to fulfills their duty.”
Ignatieff listed a host of other ideas that he’d like the government to pursue. Most arose out of the series of roundtable discussions the Liberals have held since Jan. 25 in a bid to show they’ve been working despite the suspension of Parliament.