Prorogue then intimidate

The Governor

The question is being asked whether the Governor should have granted the request. Constitutionally there will be occasions when  advice to prorogue should be considered by the Governor under her reserve powers, that is where her decision is her own.

Such an occasion would arise if the Premier were seeking to close down the Parliemant to avoid a vote of no confidence. This arose in Canada in 2008, where the Governor General exercised her powers in favour of the Prime Minister after a two hour meeting at Rideau Hall, her official residence.

Canadian precendent

There the minority government of the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper PC MP, had been threatened with a vote of no confidence on the floor of the House of Commons.

The opposition Liberal and New Democratic Parties had signed an agreement to form a coalition government, and the Bloc Québécois has agreed to support the coalition on confidence issues.

The session was prorogued by a Royal Proclamation, in both the English and French languages, made under the authority of the Canadian Crown on 4 December 2008. 

It was not for long at that time of the year, a factor which was no doubt taken into consideration by the Governor General in making her decision. The new session was to begin  on 26 January, 2009.

(For the text of the Proclamation and for more details, see this column:“Royal solution to the Canadian political mess: an Antipodean view” 7 December 2008.)

What the prorogation meant

The Proclamation was made not under a specific provision of the Canadian written constitution, the Constitution Act of 1867, nor under an act of parliament. It was made under the Royal Prerogative.

At the time I made four points:

First, if this is a crisis it is political, and certainly not constitutional. Indeed, rather than a crisis, it is more of a mess made by politicians acting instinctively as they do all around the world, attracted to the scent of and addicted to power.

Second, the Canadian Crown will play the key role in ensuring a constitutional solution to this crisis among the politicians.

Third, the powers of the Canadian Crown will be exercised by the Governor General ( no hyphen is used in Canada in contrast to the Australian Governor-General).

Fourth, the Governor General is above politics because of the crucial fact that she is appointed by, and owes her allegiance to the Sovereign - and through Her as a trustee for the people.  She does not owe any allegiance to the politicians who may have recommended her appointment, or to the particular party to which the politician belongs.  Nor is she a politican seeking her own reelction or obsessed by the ideas of mandate or political agenda.