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Why proroguing Parliament is a good idea

Many Canadians are upset at the prorogation of Parliament. But I’m not. I don’t call the typical day-to-day banter in the House parliamentary progress. I call it ping pong.Certainly democracy is about the will of the people, but we elect representatives to act on our behalf with the intent that they will lead and act as leaders, not as sheep to our whims.

Many Canadians are upset at the prorogation of Parliament. But I’m not. I don’t call the typical day-to-day banter in the House parliamentary progress. I call it ping pong.

Certainly democracy is about the will of the people, but we elect representatives to act on our behalf with the intent that they will lead and act as leaders, not as sheep to our whims.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper saw a political opportunity to strengthen his party’s position by prorogation, that is true. But he also saw that to do otherwise was an utter waste of his people’s time and the taxpayers’ money.

If the Liberals had any reasonably stated alternative plan; if they were united and had the real possibility of winning an election and leading the country in a better way — I too might cry foul over prorogation. But this is not the case. The opposition simply wants to confound progress for its own childish pleasure.

We democratically elect our government to act in ways the benefit the country in the long term. In order to effect positive change, a government needs to be in power long enough and to have enough sway to reasonably act on our behalf.

Many people sneer at the timing, expecting have the house members spending their time lolling about at the Olympics. I disagree.

Imagine the security costs and the number of security people typically assigned to Ottawa in the east, can now be diverted to Vancouver in the west. Imagine that during this time period, MPs can engage in serious work on specific issues, instead of wasting our money responding to opposition name calling.

Imagine the constructive outcome of a stable Canadian government in these challenging times of continued global economic woes, war, threats of terrorism and environmental challenges.

I understand that Harper has assigned a series of clear operational objectives to his team to work on at this time.

In my view, the prime minister made a responsible choice to prorogue Parliament; while it clearly does confer a political advantage to his party as well, it extends many more benefits to the people of Canada in the short and long-run.

If our leaders followed the will of the people, they’d all be handing out weekly tax-free allowances and winter vacations in Mexico to the public. But the little people never have a grasp of the big picture.

Politics is about responsible leadership, doing some things that are unpleasant or even painful for voters, based on the overview and the long-term interests of the country.

With two tonnes of ammonium nitrate still reportedly unaccounted for a month before the Olympics begin, I’d rather have our security forces focused on Vancouver and our MPs assigned a lot of homework that can yield fruit in the coming months and years than to have one “Honourable Member” insulting another for no useful end.

Michelle Stirling-Anosh is a Ponoka freelance columnist.