A few protesters – kept warm by their signs and strong beliefs – braved the cold on Saturday (Jan. 18) to line First St. in protest of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s choice to ask for the prorogation of Parliament earlier this month.
Barb Dufton was inspired to protest when talking recently with a few friends about the current state of Canadian politics.
“We’re like-minded citizens. We’re concerned about what’s happening in our government,” said Dufton in an interview. “We were getting together for coffee and talking about (Prime Minister) Justin Trudeau proroguing our Parliament, effectively shutting it down for 11 weeks.”
On Jan. 6, Trudeau announced he would resign as party leader and prime minister after the Liberal party concludes a leadership race in the coming months. He told reporters that day at Rideau Cottage that the governor general had approved his request to prorogue Parliament until March 24.
Trudeau’s decision came as opposition parties were preparing to put forward a motion of non-confidence, with the Conservative, New Democratic and Bloc Québécois parties confirming they would not support the Liberal minority government when parliament returned from the holiday break.
“We were wondering, what could we do in our own community?” said Dufton.
About eight protesters showed up for about an hour on Saturday, some from Collingwood and others from Wasaga Beach.
“We wanted to make a silent stand for accountability and democracy in Canada. We think it’s wrong,” said Dufton.
She notes that parliament comes from the word parler, which means ‘to speak’ in French.
“It’s a misuse of the proroguing process. We think the prorogation process needs to be reviewed,” said Dufton, adding that Trudeau isn’t the first to prorogue Parliament, with former Prime Ministers Stephen Harper and Jean Chrétien also choosing that route on multiple occasions during their terms in office.
“When the government gets into a sticky situation... to prorogue Parliament, to us, seems to be wrong,” she said. “There should be stricter guidelines about how it’s used.”
Dufton would like to see more Collingwood and Simcoe-Grey residents take action. She encourages anyone upset about the prorogation of Parliament to contact their MP.
Contact information for Simcoe-Grey MP Terry Dowdall – who has been vocal about his opposition to the move – can be found here.
