Prorogation is when the Prime Minister of Canada goes to the Canadian governor general and asks them to shut down parliament (the legislative branch of the Canadian government) for a period of time.
Ergo, when parliament is prorogued nothing gets done. The parliament buildings stay empty and the politicians all go home and enjoy an extended vacation with their big fat pay cheques.
So far Stephen Harper, the current minority Prime Minister, has prorogued parliament twice in an effort to stay in power. Essentially he is avoiding non-confidence votes that would force either a new election, or a new minority government led by the Liberals.Thus in our current scenario Canada ends up having to keep a lame duck prime minister because whenever we try to throw him out of office with a non-confidence vote he ends up proroguing parliament. (And if you doubt that Stephen Harper is a lame duck, please tell me what exactly has he ACCOMPLISHED while in power? His only goal seems to be delaying green environmental measures.)
Right now the NDP is proposing a new law that would require a parliamentary vote to prorogue parliament, bypassing the governor general entirely. Other political parties are supporting the measure. Thus it would not be an outright ban on prorogation, but it would be a ban on the Prime Minister's ability to prorogue parliament.
To gain public support for the idea the NDP is hosting a variety anti-prorogation rallies across Canada.
I on the other hand am going a different route. I am promoting a new Facebook group called "Stephen Harper is a Lame Duck Prime Minister" and should be tossed out for being a complete failure. I am making it my new years resolution to make it happen.
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