By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Stephen Harper to seek prorogation of Parliament
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has confirmed he will ask the Governor General to prorogue Parliament until October, when his Conservative government will introduce the next speech from the throne.
“There will be a new throne speech in the fall, obviously the House will be prorogued in anticipation of that. We will come back — in October is our tentative timing,” Harper told reporters in Whitehorse Monday. Harper is in the Yukon on the second day of his annual summer tour of the North.
The Prime Minister’s Office later clarified that Harper will ask for Parliament to be prorogued before the scheduled return of the House on Sept. 16, meaning Parliament will not sit again until after the throne speech in October.
The prime minister did not give a date for the throne speech. His spokesman, Andrew MacDougall, said he wouldn’t speculate but did note the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit is in the first week of October and is followed by Thanksgiving. That would suggest Parliament could return as early as Oct. 15. The Conservatives hold their postponed party convention in Calgary at the end of that month.
The move was not unexpected. The government managed to pass much of its outstanding legislation before rising for the summer break, and Harper undertook a major shuffle of his cabinet in July as he passed the halfway mark of his mandate. (Source: CBC News)