Published by Senator James Cowan on 14 January 2009
We are all looking forward to the return of Parliament at the end of this month.
In December, the Governor General granted the Prime Minister's request for a prorogation, thus avoiding almost certain defeat on a motion of non-confidence in the Government. The threat of a Liberal-NDP coalition forced Mr. Harper to back away from some of the worst parts of the Government’s economic statement
Hopefully the Prime Minister has taken advantage of the break to listen to Canadians and will present to Parliament a budget that meets the needs of these extraordinary economic times.
This is no time for political brinksmanship or partisan posturing. Canadians expect their parliamentarians to put the national interest above those of any political party.
The time for confrontational, ideological, in-your-face politics is past. Canadians expect the Prime Minister to rise above the position of party leader and become a leader for all Canadians regardless of their political leanings or in what part of the country they live.
Calling an unnecessary election in contravention of his own fixed election date legislation, misrepresenting the severity of the nation's economic situation during the election and ducking the confidence vote which he promised for November 29 by persuading the Governor General to prorogue Parliament – these actions have seriously eroded the Prime Minister's credibility and betrayed the trust which must exist between a Prime Minister and the electorate.
Let us all hope that he comes back to Parliament a changed man, prepared to make this Parliament work by working with all parliamentarians – in both the House and Senate – to cushion the effects of the recession upon all Canadians and to enable this great country to return to positive growth and prosperity as soon as possible.
Our new leader, Michael Ignatieff, has made it crystal clear that Liberal support for the upcoming budget is contingent on it passing three tests:
- does it help the most vulnerable of Canadians;
- does it enable infrastructure funding to be expended quickly in strategic areas; and
- will the expenditures enable us to emerge from the recession with a more competitive and highly trained work force.
The onus is on the Prime Minister to deliver!