Tories obstruct truth and justice yet again

Tories muzzling widow of rights agency head, she says - thestar.com
Federal Conservatives are trying to block a grieving widow's emotional appeal to speak on behalf of her dead husband, the former president of Montreal's embattled Rights and Democracy.

Suzanne Trepanier says she has important details about the workings of the agency – and the tensions she blames in part for Rémy Beauregard's death Jan. 8 from a heart attack.

...

The main whistle-blower in the Afghan scandal having his legal funding halted

Diplomat-whistleblower says he faces government reprisal - thestar.com
First the Conservatives prorogue to run away from the demands for the documents in the Afghan Detainee Torture Scandal, then they stop the legal funding for the whistle blower in hopes that he will go away too.

Questions for the PM

Questions for proroguing PM - thestar.com
The Star published a decent set of questions for the PM to answer, including things like "When will you release the documents demanded by Parliament showing communications among officials about the risk of torture for detainees handed over by Canadian troops to Afghan custody?", and others covering if he will recall Parliament earlier than planed, cutting off funding to KAIROS, how his GST Tax cut has helped create the deficit (the Star should have included the larger corporate tax cuts here as they are the largest contributor to the deficit, along with the mis-managed recession spending), unemployment, environment, and pensions.

This is a good starting point. It's unfortunate that Harper has prorogued Parliament because these are some of the urgent questions and issues that would be covered in Parliament were it up and running. So far Harper and members of his party and the MSM for the most part have brushed off questions about recalling Parliament and about the rising numbers of concerned Canadians speaking out and showing their disagreement with the prorogation of Parliament. it will be interesting to see if Harper and his team and the MSM continue to ignore the growing unrest in Canada.

Tories drop in the polls and protests over prorogation go international

Conservatives on 'razor’s edge of losing government' - The Globe and Mail

...
The organizers of the anti-prorogation rallies planned for Jan. 23 are now saying there will be rallies in London, England, and New York. There is also the possibility of an anti-prorogation demonstration in Los Angeles.

Jonathan Allan, the spokesperson for the rallies that were inspired by the anti-prorogation Facebook group, is boldly predicting huge turnout. “As we enter the second decade of the 21st century and become exposed to the whims of an unaccountable government, we are legitimately confident that these rallies, including the ones in Ottawa and Toronto, will be among the largest independent political protests in years,” he told The Globe in an email, noting that it’s a non-partisan effort.

“We have rebuked all assistance from opposition parties; this is an entirely grassroots organized event,” he writes. “We, as the citizens of Canada, are demanding that the elected representatives of our Parliament return to work immediately – if not in the House of Commons, at least within the context of the parliamentary inquiry into the government’s complicity in torture and war crimes.”

"Everybody knows that Parliament was prorogued in order to shut down the Afghan inquiry"

It is obvious to most people that the main reason Harper prorogued parliament was to avoid answering questions about the Afghan detainee issue. It was becoming very clear that the Conservative government were/are guilty of knowingly handing over detainees who would be tortured. This is a war crime. They have refused the order to hand over the documents and they have been caught up in their lies. If parliament had of continued on, the Conservatives would have been completely exposed for what they did and the Canadian public would be crying for an end to their governing and parliament would have definitely lost confidence in the Conservative government. Here, in a recent CBC interview, Tom Flanagan, former chief of staff to Harper, says pretty much the same thing:

Flanagan lays into PM's prorogation defence - Inside Politics
In a panel interview on Power & Politics with Evan Solomon, Tom Flanagan, former chief of staff to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, doesn't mince words on the prime minister's suggestion on Monday that the instability of the current minority Parliament hurts the markets.

Flanagan: "Well, you know, it actually doesn't make much sense to me. The market just in this past year had, I think, its greatest increase in a single year, and that was in, during a minority government. I don't think the antics of politicians have actually that much to do with the market, i think that's based on economic fundamentals as investors see them. So i think the prime minister is stretching a bit when he made that comment.

Solomon: "What do you think the strategy is behind that, Tom?"

Flanagan: "Well, I don't know that there's much strategy behind it. I think his problem is that the government's talking points really don't have much credibility. Everybody knows that Parliament was prorogued in order to shut down the Afghan inquiry, and the trouble is that the government doesn't want to explain why that was necessary. Personally I think it was highly defensible action, but instead of having an adult defence of it, the government comes up with these childish talking points. So then you try and backfill with other stuff that doesn't make much sense either. So it's a self-created problem."

Flanagan, for good measure, then added: "I hope nobody thinks I'm a Harper stooge anymore."

More on this here:
McQuaig: Proroguing Less Trouble Than Sitting
And even in the, gasp!, National Post (this is old news, but to see the NP publish such a news item...) :
Scholars add their voices to prorogation protest

"This is simply cowardice" - regarding Harper proroguing parliament to avoid the tough questions on the Afghanistan detainee issue.

Prorogue is indefensible no matter who is selling it - Owen Sound Sun Times - Ontario, CA
...

Harper was taking serious fire on the detainee issue, and he was beginning to find it uncomfortable. The mess in Copenhagen didn't help. He didn't want to come back to more controversy. So he closed the doors, hoping the Olympics would take our minds off the workings of government.

He had an opportunity to rebut Richard Colvin's points about detainee handling. Instead he fled and sent Parliament home. He ran away, rather than face his critics in a stand-up, public debate.

...

Like I said, Harper is a coward.

Stephen Harper is a Coward

For someone to run away when faced with tough questions in parliament. For someone who decides he doesn't want to stand on guard any longer. For someone who lies to the public and media about what is really going on with our government. For someone who has decided he will no longer stand on guard for Canada. Let's say the one word that sums it all up. COWARD. STEPHEN HARPER IS A COWARD.

How many Canadians want a coward running the country? I bet not one.

So, people, wake up and smell the napalm. Canada is burning and Stephen Harper is the one who set the fire.

Tell your MPs what you think of Harper shutting down Canadian democracy by proroguing parliament for no better reason than to re-direct attention away from the Conservative party failings.

And, if you haven't already, join the Facebook Group Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament, and attend the rallies on Jan. 23rd.