Editor:
Mr. Gordon Politeski, (Coast Reporter, Jan. 15 letters, attempts valiantly to minimize his friend Stephen Harper's decision to prorogue Parliament.
He does make a minimal attempt to translate a three month shut-down of Parliament into "just over one month." What he fails to address is the fact that proroguing Parliament is not a simple recess
Harper's action has killed every bill that was before Parliament at the time, representing many months of wasted effort and wasted expense. The anti-crime bills of which Harper was so proud are now dead. The private members bill of Politeski's friend, John Weston, which would have controlled the ingredients to such drugs as ecstasy and crystal meth, is now dead. And the Climate Change Accountability Act put forward by New Demo-crats, which would have held the Conservative government accountable on reducing greenhouse gasses, is also dead, much to Harper's relief.
In denying that Harper's decision to prorogue was related to the issue of the Conservative government's possible negligence in turning over Afghan prisoners into torture, Mr. Politeski asks, "What new information could possibly be added?"
Thanks to prorogation, we'll never know, will we? And Politeski goes on to ask, "Is this really an important issue to most Canadians?" Certainly the possibility of Canadian government complicity in torture, whether deliberate or through neglect, is an important issue for the Canadians I am proud to know.
Bill Forst,
NDP candidate
