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Parliament has been sitting dark while Canada has been reeling from the air-crash tragedy in Iran. Has anyone missed it?
In the initial days after Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was shot out of the sky by an Iranian missile on Jan. 8, killing more than 80 Canadian citizens and permanent residents, some argued that Parliament should be immediately recalled. Both houses of Parliament are on an extended break until Jan. 27.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh made an early recall demand on Twitter, saying that Canadians “deserve answers and to be heard before the government makes any decisions and things escalate.”
The Conservatives did not make a formal demand, but MP James Bezan said in a statement: “As Conservatives, we support debating the issues of the day. It is Conservative practice to bring Canadian Armed Forces operations to a debate and vote in the House of Commons.”
But Parliament has stayed shut and here’s the cold reality — it hasn’t really been all that necessary.
Rather than see partisan politics at work during these past 10 days, Canadians have seen government work — and not too badly either.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is getting praise for his measured handling of the incident, even from some people not generally disposed to him.
Those who have questions about how the government is dealing with the fallout of the crash are getting answers from Trudeau himself at frequent news conferences, which are proving to be far better than question period in terms of democratic accountability.
No shouting, no drama, no partisan sanctimony. It’s been a pleasant relief.
Members of Parliament, who would otherwise be sitting in their Commons seats applauding their own party and taunting their rivals, are busy in their ridings attending to victims’ families or going to vigils.
The Star’s Alex Ballingall writes today about how two Iranian-Canadian MPs from the GTA — Willowdale’s Ali Ehsassi and Richmond Hill’s Majid Jowhari — have been particularly and poignantly busy since the air crash. Once again, we see how some of the most valuable work done by MPs takes place far away from the Hill, at the constituency level, where real people live.
A general opinion has been developing around Ottawa about how this tragedy has seen the government get its act together on communication strategy. Trudeau is low-key, all business and taking lots of advice from others. He appears at his news conferences flanked by fellow ministers and the occasional public servant, to demonstrate that this is a team effort across government.
The improvement in Trudeau communications does indeed speak to how bad things were last winter, when one crisis seemed to beget a dozen other communications crises and every utterance from the PMO seemed to make things worse, not better.
But what’s also missing is Parliament and the daily spectacle of question period. The fact that things are going so much better for the government without them is an indication of just how dysfunctional they are in normal times.
Maybe that point needs to be sharpened. What is conspicuously — and happily — absent in the aftermath of this crash is crazily partisan politics. All parties seem to understand that a political spitting match right now would not help the families of the victims or get needed answers from Iran and others.
I asked around this week about what might have happened if Parliament had been sitting when this tragedy happened. Thoughtful people cited everything from possible committee inquiries to the symbolism of collective mourning in Canada’s central democratic institution.
These things may still happen when the MPs return to Ottawa later this month, and it’s entirely possible that they will add to, not subtract from, Canada’s response to the tragedy. Parliament can be especially good when it is dealing with tragedy, especially mass tragedy on this scale.
Conservatives are right too — it’s a wise practice for any government to consult across party lines when it comes to committing Canadian troops to further duties. Canada’s military is intimately involved in the region where this crash took place, heading up NATO operations in Baghdad, so it’s sensible for Parliament to keep an eye on implications for Canada there.
Last year, Canada had an election whose results were interpreted as an indictment of politics as usual on Parliament Hill. Canadians wanted to see their government working, fewer games and talking points, more substance and co-operation.
The past 10 days have largely been a demonstration of those very traits; it’s a shame, to say the least, that it took such a disaster to see a more constructive picture of politicians at work in these early days of 2020.
But it’s something to remember when things start getting busy on the Hill in a week or so too and attention turns to more routine matters of running a country. A little less Parliament, a little more government seems to work better for everyone.