The Prime Minister’s Office just confirmed what we first reported earlier today on CTV Newsnet: Prime Minister Stephen Harper will recommend to the Governor General that she prorogue Parliament until October.
That means that all the government legislation on the order paper — Bill C-30 (the revamped Clean Air Act) plus the pile of government-sponsored justice bills — dies and it’s back to square one for each bill. Notably, private member’s bills survive the prorogation which means Bill C-288 — the bill introduced by Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez requiring the government to deal with Kyoto somehow — is still on the books. I'm a blockhead for typing too fast. As as has been pointed out to me elsewhere, C-288 is already the law of the land.
Also, prorogation means that all Standing Committees of the House are dissolved and cannot meet or transact any business until the House is recalled in October.
Harper also said there will be a Throne Speech when the house sits again. A vote on a Throne Speech is, by definition, a confidence vote.
The Prime Minister was in Meech Lake all day meeting with his cabinet’s Priorities and Planning Committee and will get on a plane late this evening for the APEC meetings in Australia. The PM is making no comment on the prorogation other than what is in the following release:
PRIME MINISTER STEPHEN HARPER ANNOUNCES INTENTION TO PROROGUE PARLIAMENT
September 4, 2007
Ottawa, OntarioPrime Minister Stephen Harper announced today that he will be recommending to Governor General Michaëlle Jean that Parliament be prorogued, thus ending the First Session of the 39th Parliament. Parliament will be recalled on October 16 to commence the Second Session with a Speech from the Throne.
“The First Session of the 39th Parliament was exceptionally productive, especially for a Government in a minority situation,” Prime Minister Harper said. “We delivered on all the major commitments we made to Canadians during the 2006 election. After our first 19 months in office,” added the Prime Minister, “I’m pleased to report that Canada is united, our government is clean and our economy is strong.”
“Now it’s time to launch the next phase of our mandate,” the Prime Minister continued. “Strong leadership, focussed on results, will continue to guide our Government as we work to make our country even stronger, and even better for all of Canada’s families.”
“Canadians gave us a mandate for change,” Prime Minister Harper said. “But we’re just getting started. We will seize the opportunities that lie before us, and rise to the challenges that confront us. I invite the other parties to join with us to make the Second Session even more successful than the First. There is much more we can and will do to make Canada stronger, safer and better for all of us.”