On entitlements

Con MP Gary Schellenberger's excuse for prorogation is painful enough to listen to on its own:

The Olympics in Canada were another good reason to prorogue Parliament, he added. ”If we are sitting, how do MPs get to those events,” he said of the Olympic games. “It makes sense that we are not sitting.”

But it's even more so compared to an NDP move which is looking better by the day as the Cons try to use the Olympics as an excuse to put Canadian democracy on hold:


So the Cons have ordered a break which isn't available to the general public to make it easier for their MPs to use tickets which aren't available to the general public - and seem downright proud to have done so. And the contrast between that sense of entitlement and the NDP's contrasting choice to stay in the same position as Canadians at large on both counts should ensure that the NDP is ideally positioned to capitalize on the building outrage against the Harper government.

Update: Jack Mitchell provides the video equivalent of Schellenberger's quote in the Macleans comments.