Canada’s parliamentarians have headed home for the holidays after a tumultuous fall session rife with political posturing and pre-election antics.
No one’s complaining.
Talk to most anyone on the Hill, MPs and journalists among them, and they’ll likely tell you that the past couple months haven’t been easy. Everyone needs a break.
First, there’s the incessant pre-election preparation: candidate nominations, policy pledges, party positioning and disintegrating political relationships.
The election is set for Oct. 19, 2015, but the ongoing campaigning and political leveraging by all parties has sent journalists and pundits into a tizzy over early election rumours.
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Meanwhile, the bickering in the Commons is high, with snark overtaking rational debate, even on serious issues such as the care of Canada’s veterans, the privatization of the CWB, trade issues and the country’s military mission in Iraq.
As for question period, more than a few hold the view that it should be renamed “insult period.” It’s a more accurate reflection of the dissoluteness that this country’s prime time political show has been subjected to over the past few weeks and months.
Question period has never been praised for its ability to generate quality answers, particularly under the current government, but the toxicity of the exchanges in recent months is undeniable.
More than one politician has been reduced to a tearful and sniveling apology.
Paul Calandra, parliamentary secretary to the prime minister, was forced to apologize for repeated non-answers to opposition questions about Canada’s mission in Iraq, while former Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro was reduced to tears when he had to resign after being found guilty of breaking multiple election rules.
Meanwhile, the political relationship between the NDP and the Liberals disintegrates by the day. Neither party is fond of the Conservatives, but their dislike for each other has been even more acute.
The point has been highlighted by the ongoing mess that unfolded after two NDP female MPs accused two male Liberal MPs of sexual harassment in late October.
By the first week of November, both Liberal MPs had been suspended from caucus, where they remain today with little recourse available to clear their names.
Meanwhile, many on the Hill had hoped the allegations would trigger a serious conversation about harassment, but instead the NDP and Liberals took turns alleging the other had mishandled the situation.
The sexual harassment incident wasn’t the only emotionally challenging drama to unfold on Parliament Hill this fall.
One can’t forget the Oct. 22 shooting, whose lingering effects can still be felt, and seen, in Parliament’s hallways months later.
We often take pleasure in admonishing parliamentarian but the Ottawa shooting served as a stark reminder that elected officials are people, too.
Yet, unlike others who have experienced trauma, most of Canada’s parliamentarians have not had a chance to process what happened that day in October.
With never ending schedules (many MPs work from 6 a.m. to 10 or 11 p.m. every day) along with commitments and obligations to party and country, few MPs have been able to take some much deserved time for themselves.
Like many Canadians struggling to make it through the last few days of work, folks here are tired and cranky because they need a vacation.
It’s a simple as that.
With Parliament now on pause until Jan. 26, most MPs have headed home for the holidays to spend time with friends and family, play a little shinny and gorge themselves on copious amounts of home-cooking.
Some have said they have plans for vacations to far away places with their spouses, while others are looking forward to being able to attend their children’s and grandchildren’s Christmas concerts.
More than a few have chuckled about the to-do list of household tasks and repairs that their spouses have waiting for them back home.
Political frustrations are unlikely to ease in the coming winter session, so these few weeks of reprieve are critical. Parliament’s sanity depends on it.
