Here I was under the impression that prorogation meant vacation, and yet it seems as though all my Government Ministers were hard at work doing their jobs when this catastrophe hit. The Government was well prepared and were able to quickly deploy emergency responders, and that the mission is benefitting significantly from military hardware purchases by the same Defense Ministers who have been accused of criminal incompetence in recent months by a desperate opposition.
Government is working, but I guarantee you if the poll numbers start to swing back towards the Tories, the Liberals will attempt to make the case that the prorogation of Parliament somehow diminished our response time; though it is virtually impossible to see how we could have done it any faster. Soloman and Van Dussen in their "Power Panel" were trying to throw out some ideas on how this can hurt the Tories. It would appear that they have not yet devised a way to spin the Haiti disaster as a negative for the Government. But you know it will be coming, ESPECIALLY if the polls start to swing back.
Granted the situation is still active and yet to be resolved, but both Canada and the United States are further mobilizing their Armed Forces for a humanitarian peacekeeping mission. From what I have seen Canada should have nearly 1,000 boots on the ground next week, and Obama has ordered 10,000 for deployment. Hopefully political instability will not escalate such that the troops can focus on disaster response rather than combat operations.
What is probably coming next is a demand to reconvene parliament to deal with the issue, as though daily rounds of Question Period is a productive use of government time during a serious crisis. I know Soloman introduced the idea today that our presence in Afghanistan is jeopardizing our response-ability in Haiti.
You are probably right, calls for Parliament to be brought back will get very shrill, very soon.
ReplyDeleteLiberals/MSM can't stand it that it's a Conservative government handling a crisis, without needing any advise from the peanut gallery, and they are handling it brilliantly. This is where our troops shine, get them into the field and they will make Canada proud!
Actually, the reason it's gone so smoothly is because Parliament has been prorogued.
ReplyDeleteThey've been able to concentrate on getting the job done, versus having to listen to those clucking and squawking quackademic Liberals.
Another prescient move by the Conservatives!
"Another prescient move by the Conservatives!" Gotta love it!! Tie that into the aircraft purchases and a few other things and the Conservatives are the heroes of the day, and all without the help of Iffy, Mini-Marx or what's his name, the separatist.
ReplyDeleteMakes a good day better.
The Liberals, Dippers and BLOC holding secret meetings, hmmmmm, why does that ring a bell?
ReplyDeleteIffy is even less qualified to be PM than Dion was.
"Here I was under the impression that prorogation meant vacation..."
ReplyDeleteIt's a bit depressing to find confirmation that Conservative bloggers really DON'T have a clue how government operates.
"The Liberals, Dippers and BLOC holding secret meetings, hmmmmm, why does that ring a bell?"
ReplyDeleteChecking out some of the discussions on the FB pages against prorgation (they have formed individual chapters in various cities, holding meetings, Jack Layton is attending those meetings, planning protests) - makes me realize that the Coalition is alive and well and making plans....be wary, be alert and be prepared....
I'm sure they will somehow bring up the idea that we would have more troops available for relief and peacekeeping work if we weren't in Afghanistan. How about if we had more troops, period.
ReplyDeleteI still don't think it's a great idea to bring in a lot more Haitian immigrants. They have a hard time getting jobs here in Montreal even though they speak international French or even Creole type dialect.
Our Conservative MP here in the Okanagan has been busy meeting with the constituents, had a chance to meet and have brief conversation with him a week or so back. I assume all MP's across the Country are taking this time to do the same.
ReplyDeleteI just read about Pat Roberston's claim that the Haitians had made a pact with the Devil to get themselves out from "under the heel of the French",which he then said was a "true story".
If that story IS true,perhaps we should ask the Haitians how to get in touch with the gentleman from Hell, then maybe we can work out a deal to get the West out from under the heel of our present day French.
You never can tell, he might be in a good mood these days with all his victories South of the Canada/US border.
DMorris
Parliament does not prorogue until Jan 25, it's still the holidays for our politicians.
ReplyDeleteBig Red Magnum, sorry if I misunderstood that prorogation does not begin unil Jan 25. My source was Kady O'Malley at the CBC, whom I mistakenly trusted as a viable source.
ReplyDeleteKady told me back in December that proroguing at Christmas instead of waiting until Jan 25 was an indication that the government was hiding something. So she was wrong and we are not prorogued until the 25th?
I will remember not to trust breaking news from Kady O'Malley ever again....here I thought she was a real journalist, boy was I wrong...