The Professors were right and Mr. Benoit reflects the problem we have with Harper’s bias towards American philosophies. He works with Hill & Knowlton, one of the largest public relation firms in the U.S. In 2009 Harper’s government paid them over $132,000 for their services as “Management Consultants”. Will that op-ed be part of their next bill?

Harper states the government needs time to recalibrate. He wants time to develop new policies and programs. But that is what Parliament and its committees are designed to do! Why send the MPs and Senators home when the government is looking for new ideas?

Prime Minister Harper appears to not care if Parliament is shut down. Yet he spends hundreds of thousands of dollars to obtain legal and public relations advice from American firms who do not understand our Parliamentary system and who live in a country that was founded on different principles than ours.

In the BNA Act our founding fathers structured a highly centralized Dominion government conferring all the great powers of legislation, as well as residual powers, on the central government. That was Sir John A Macdonald’s great input. He felt the U.S. constitution that had resulted in the Civil War was fundamentally weak. Sir Georges-Etienne Cartier (the two considered themselves ‘brothers’) provided the second half of the vision that became Canada. He saw it as a country that allowed different races and ethnicities to live together under a common political nationality.

The Americans spoke of ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ while Canadians called for ‘peace, order and good government’. America became as they like to say “a melting pot” of differing nationalities while in Canada the Supreme Court has confirmed we are a mosaic, as Cartier wished, rather than a melting pot. America may be a story about freedom but Canada is a history of fraternity and mutual recognition.

Since gaining minority power four years ago Prime Minister Stephen Harper, through his actions, has demonstrated a lack of understanding of the difference between our country and the U.S.A. Canada is a Parliamentary democracy while the U.S. is a Presidential system. A large part of our problems with Mr. Harper is that he chooses, according to the circumstances of the moment, to rule like a King or like a President in the U.S. model.

President Obama cannot prorogue Congress. The U.S. system elects a President for four years, Senators for six years and a House of Representatives for two years. By tradition our Parliamentary system can be very effective for a Prime Minister and her/his government. A PM must accept, however, that the ultimate power in our democracy is Parliament. A Prime Minister with a majority of the 308 MPs in Parliament can take action in Canada much more effectively than a President in the U.S. But it is imperative that he keeps the support of the majority of the MPs.

In the last election Harper’s party got only 37.7% of the votes and only 58.8% of those eligible actually voted. He thus has the support of only 22% of Canadian voters! With this weak hand he should respect the wishes of all MPs in Ottawa and allow them to have input when policy is being developed.

Moreover, MPs now earn $157,731.00 per year. They also receive an office budget of $284,700.00 plus other extras which in total take them over $500,000.00 per year. The current Parliament, including the Senate, thus has an approved budget of over $400 Million. To break precedent, and send those MPs home as Prime Minister Harper has done, is not only a dreadful waste of their salaries but an affront to the people of Canada who sent those 308 MPs to form the 40th Parliament.

Canadians are spending a lot to maintain a Parliamentary system which delivers one of the world’s best democracies. Take health care, Americans have not been able to institute a National Health Care Plan for all their citizens and the hodgepodge they do have costs 40% more per patient than here. Our Parliamentary system has produced better health care than they have under the decentralized Presidential system in the U.S.

The Prime Minister has missed the point. Parliament is there to help him. He should listen to any MP who wants to have an input. They speak for all Canadian citizens. That is what they are paid to do. Rather than pay for (expensive!) American advisors, which he is doing, Prime Minister Harper should accept our Parliamentary system which is more effective and democratic than the U.S. Presidential system.

Centuries ago prorogation in our mother country, Great Britain, was a device used by Kings to shut down Parliaments after they had voted the funds the King wanted and thus allowed the King to escape further questioning. Prime Minister Harper is acting like a King without accepting that precedent now dictates that the other 307 MPs in Parliament are there to be consulted by the PM and his Cabinet.

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For more information call Hon. Sinclair Stevens at 1-888-666-3821 or e-Mail him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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