For a political junkie like me, last night was one of those “special” times of my life.

Courtesy of an invite by an ex-NDP MP through a colleague of my spouse, I had the distinct privilege of dining in the Parliamentary restaurant and having a pretty damned cool private tour afterward.

I would love to post pics, but our host asked us to promise to NOT post any pics in the social media world – lest he lose his privileges as an ex-Parliamentarian… and I respect that…

So here is a non-pictorial summary:

• Dined in the restaurant… wasn’t allowed to take any photos at all here. The setting was awesome but the food was, well, not so much. We were told that the restaurant is kicking into summertime shutdown mode because as soon as the House rises, the restaurant closes up shop.
• Stood at the podium in the Press Gallery. Ranted for a sec, à la John Baird…
• Went to the restored Library – that place always blows me away.
• Hung around the House for a while. Sat in The Robots seat (the Universe is somewhat out of kilter this morning because of that), the Speaker’s chair, Bob Rae’s seat, Jack Layton’s chair… and the Bloc… they are but a wee piece of the floor space after May 2!
• Stood on the floor of the Senate.
• Toured the old PCO office – where the Constitution was kept and guarded when it was repatriated.
• Saw John A’s old office… strange vibes there
• Went through the infamous tunnels from Centre Block to East Block

Quite a night, indeed. And thanks to all who arranged it!

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

I thought I would post a short note about why I keep going on about this whole proroguing shitstorm. I have received some comments, both here and on Facebook (from the Resident Love Goddess no less!) that I’m getting my knickers all in a twist about something that is constitutional and that the Grits had no compunctions about when they were in power.

1. I am essentially a non-partisan political creature. But I AM a bit of a lefty and am most assuredly anti Harper and anti ReformCon. I will – because of my nature – bitch a bit louder about them than the other parties.
2. if I had had a soapbox like a blog back when the Grits were the Government, I would have yelled at them equally as ferociously for proroguing Parliament for no real reason other than to avoid the world. Although it is a legal practice, it is an abuse of power like no other. How can we expect wanna-be democracies like Afghanistan (OK – I’m stretching it) to take us seriously if our own PM shuts down the doors of democracy whenever he needs to hide from something?
3. We can and should strive to do better. Past poor actions are no excuse for repeating them.  Just because it was done before does not make it right to do it again. Lawrence Martin puts it well in his article today in the G&M:

“Another line of defence (for those who don’t think that prorogation is such a big deal) is that Mr. Harper isn’t the only proroguer. Liberal PM Jean Chrétien did it too, although none of his closings could match the desperation of Mr. Harper’s prorogation of December, 2008. So what’s the big deal? This is a common Conservative defence refrain. As in, the Liberal record on global warming was terrible too. So what’s the big deal? As in, the Liberals sent disproportionate amounts of stimulus monies to their own ridings too. So what’s the big deal?

One big deal is that we’re supposed to be making progress, moving down the field, not staying on the 30-yard line.

Another is that we have a Prime Minister who thinks he can get away with anything, but who may well find out otherwise.”

And based on the latest polling numbers, maybe Canadians are starting to call him out on this.

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

I’m not too surprised to see that the Harperites are once again thumbing their noses at the democratic process!

What gall! What an affront to our system of government! And considering how much work is going to be wasted, what a waste of money!

The House of Commons and the Senate will come back in March, after the Vancouver Olympics, for a Speech from the Throne and a budget. The move will have the effect of stalling all bills currently in Parliament, including crime bills that the government had said were being delayed by the opposition.

Well, so much for the ReformCons using “soft on crime” ads against the Libs in the next election!

A post-Olympic return would also shut down government committees, which would stop MPs from pursuing the Afghan detainee controversy until Parliament returned.

… which, of course, is the REAL reason behind this.

I am almost physically SICK to my stomach over this! How can anyone, ANYONE consider voting for these dictators????

Stevo, during his visit with his mentor, Kim Jong Il

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario