Canada's Parliament won't convene until after the Winter Olympics, which are being held in Vancouver and nearby Whistler from February 12 to February 28, in a move seen as buying Prime Minister Stephen Harper time to reorder his political agenda. The move was announced on Wednesday by the Conservatives, who said the legislature's goals needed to be restudied now that the economic crisis has passed.
But the opposition said the shutdown was just a ploy to avoid questions about the handling of Afghan detainees and climate change. ``The specific reason here is that Stephen Harper doesn't feel like coming back to town and answering questions about his government,'
New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton said. Instead of resuming work as scheduled on January 25, Parliament will start afresh on March 3 with a policy speech that will outline the priorities of the government. It will be followed by a new budget the next day, said Dimitri Soudas, spokesman for Harper. ``Now is the time to also engage with constituents, stakeholders and businesses in order to listen to Canadians, identify priorities and to set the next stage of our agenda,' Soudas said in justifying the delay.
Comments
Comments are closed.