Canadian PM dissolves parliment?

[sunnyside]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/ ... index.html

It sounds like not such a big deal. But a PM just dissolving the legislative branch?

[Aaron]

It's not what you think. When it's time for an election the PM goes to the Governor General and asks her to disslove the current parliament in preperation for an election. Then there's a caimpagn for a couple months and we elect another one.

Where did you get the idea that he was actually eliminating the Legislative branch?

Edit: Love the reactionary title in the article though.

[sunnyside]

It was clear that it would be reassembled. But it sounds kind of like the PM decided that he didn't like the current parlement and so dissolved it at an odd time in hopes of getting a better one.

[Aaron]

It was clear that it would be reassembled. But it sounds kind of like the PM decided that he didn't like the current parlement and so dissolved it at an odd time in hopes of getting a better one.

Pretty much standard practice here. Elections have been called numerous times before in the hopes of getting a more favourable position, the shitty thing here is that Harper made a big deal of passing fixed election dates and then violated it. But that's about par of the course with the Conservative Party.

[sunnyside]

It was clear that it would be reassembled. But it sounds kind of like the PM decided that he didn't like the current parlement and so dissolved it at an odd time in hopes of getting a better one.

Pretty much standard practice here. Elections have been called numerous times before in the hopes of getting a more favourable position, the shitty thing here is that Harper made a big deal of passing fixed election dates and then violated it. But that's about par of the course with the Conservative Party.

Can they just do that whenever the heck they feel like it?

[KuvahMagh]

The Governor General can refuse to dissolve parliament if they feel there is grounds to do so but off hand I only remember one such time in "modern history" when King asked Bing to dissolve parliament and he refused, through a loophole King got his election though.

This is pretty much what you expect here in Canada though, a Minority Parliament just makes it worse.

[KuvahMagh]

I also love that headline... pretty much sums up my opinion of Bush Jr.

Though the article is inaccurate and misleading...

Dion, a former environment minister who named his dog Kyoto, wants to increase taxes on greenhouse gas emitters. Dion has moved his party to the crowded left in Canada by staking his leadership on a "Green Shift" tax plan.

The Liberals were always on the Left, the NDP were always the wack jobs way out in left field while the Conservatives have always been the wack job way out in right field... And well the Bloc, wants to leave Canada but keep our Money, Tax revenue, Military and everything else...

[Aaron]

Can they just do that whenever the heck they feel like it?

Previously, yes. Harper managed to have the law changed to have elections every four years unless there was a no confidence motion. He's apparently found a loophole or is outright violating it. Either way it'll probably go to the Supreme Court if the Liberals have any balls.

Now to ward of the "but how can you get anything done/this is madness" comments. This is usually held in check by the fact that the parties don't normally want a snap election, it empties the parties coffers and can be a big risk. Harper is gambling that he will get a majority, so it might be worth the risk. The memory of the previous Liberal governments corruption is still fresh in everyones mind and Harper lowered taxes. But he has extended Afghanistan, pulled us out of Kyoto and put forward a half-assed enviromental plan. Hard to say if he'll get his majority or not.

[Aaron]

The Governor General can refuse to dissolve parliament if they feel there is grounds to do so but off hand I only remember one such time in "modern history" when King asked Bing to dissolve parliament and he refused, through a loophole King got his election though.

This is pretty much what you expect here in Canada though, a Minority Parliament just makes it worse.

Yeah the Liberals did this, what four years ago?

[KuvahMagh]

The Governor General can refuse to dissolve parliament if they feel there is grounds to do so but off hand I only remember one such time in "modern history" when King asked Bing to dissolve parliament and he refused, through a loophole King got his election though.

This is pretty much what you expect here in Canada though, a Minority Parliament just makes it worse.

Yeah the Liberals did this, what four years ago?

Did she refuse an election? Ok well, suffice it to say its pretty rare...

[Aaron]

Did she refuse an election? Ok well, suffice it to say its pretty rare...

No a snap election.

[Mikey]

Yeah, it sounds that in general such an off-the-cuff move would do more long-term harm, at least financially, to the parties than short-term gains would offset. Still seems an odd option to have.

[IanKennedy]

In the UK the government can call an election whenever they wish, there is a maximum but there's no minimum time. The opposition can call an election by winning a vote of no confidence in the government. It's also true here that the government dissolves parliament just before the election and it doesn't meet again until the election is over. There's a time limit on how long that can be and it's fairly short.

[Mikey]

Hmmm. Over here, Congress breaks for a bit, but representative and senator terms overlap each other, so there is generally no wholesale revamping of the houses.

[IanKennedy]

The lords stays put all the time, but they can't make law only tweak and judge the stuff the commons comes up with. Just checked and there are 18 days between Dissolution and the result of the election. Day 0 is the day of Dissolution, polling takes place on Day 17 with the result on Day 18.