Stupid Attacks on Harper

I hate the people who say Stephen Harper in Breaking the law. Particularly when there are SOOOOO many good reasons to pick on him for real things.

He isn't - he is breaking a promise- which is a different debate - but he isn't breaking the law.

Before Parliament was prorogued in the fall of 2007, the government passed the “fixed date” amendments to the Canada Elections Act. To be clear, nothing in that amendment abrogated the ability of the Governor General to dissolve Parliament – if it did, we would most certainly be embroiled in a constitutional crisis. The section reads:

56.1 (1) Nothing in this section affects the powers of the Governor General, including the power to dissolve Parliament at the Governor General’s discretion.

What the amendment does provide is a fixed term for the NEXT federal election. The amendment, which was predicated on the coming into force in 2007, requires a federal election every four years and that the date for the next election was be no later than October 19th, 2009. The plain rules of statutory construction will not allow for the entirety of the section to be severed. This means that, subject to the whims of the Governor General, the next federal election will be held in four years. The germane section reads:

56.1 (2) Subject to subsection (1), each general election must be held on the third Monday of October in the fourth calendar year following polling day for the last general election, with the first general election after this section comes into force being held on Monday, October 19, 2009.

But, as we know, the power of the Governor General has not been abrogated in any way. That includes the power to NOT dissolve the house. The only legal requirement for any election is that no sitting legislature in Canada can be extended beyond five years – except in a perceived time of war or insurrection - a requirement found in section four of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.