Who do you blame for the dysfunction in Parliament? (Poll Closed)

Thanks for asking! With all the hollering from Harper, its hard for the people to be heard. Not that I want to tolerate his government for much longer, but I would like to know what is Harper's rush...in other words, what is it that he wants to go to the polls so badly to avoid being made public.

Tried to register a vote for my better half but it won't let me. Guess he'll have to wait til election day to tell Harper he's out.

I believe this poll is a very much liberal poll. The committee was mostly liberal and I am so ashamed of Paul sabo or however you spell his name and Pat Martin who is nothing but a jerk. The conservatives didn't have a chance as the opposition had more peope than the conservatives. I see the liberals as very arrogant as well as NDP and the bloc. I SAY SHAME ON THE COMMITTEE, SABO AND PAT MARTIN WILL HAVE THEIR DAY!

Dang democracy and it's majority rule, eh, mjd?

Conservatives block the committees from functioning and then complain that the Parliament is not functioning ! How cynical is that? Stop it working and hope the people don't notice why it isn't.

RE- majority Government. When will the voters wake up & understand the functioning of a manority Government!!! NO bills are passed by the oppositions- even if they agree with them- simply to make it disfunctional-as is now!!! Seems the only thing left to do-is- call an election- as we must have a majority- to pass bills- especially the crime bill- very well put together. THINK!!

Harper is going to call an election before the Ethics Committee tables its report on the Conservatives In-and-Out Scheme: Cost $300M. Anybody want to take some bets?

Last weeks Ethics Committee meeting should be made required viewing for all Canadians. This was a fine example of our government in action. I was very disappointed with the conduct of the Conservative caucus. The PM talks about a dysfunctional parliament. Mr. Harper you are the architect of this dysfunction! I look forward to someone pulling the plug on the 39th. Parliament, and look forward to participating in the process that will turf the Tories from government!

I said it weeks ago to friends & on other blogs that Harper was going to try and sabotage this committee with his mp's acting like mindless little children. I don't know how those on that committee can face their own family and friends without looking and feeling like complete idiots.

Liberals always seem to yell the loudest and do the least.

Canadians are so ill informed. They blame Harper and the Conservatives for everything They whine, complain and bitch without knowing even one fact. They 'learn' everything from media - media have always been pro Liberal and NDP - anything socialistic. Try living in a truly socialistic country - Sweden had a huge rate of sucide while under pure socialism. Liberals and NDP don't even want to pass the crime bills. Do you idiots out there really want the liberal left back in? What is good about crime? The liberals did not deal with it while in Parliament before and are stopping any forward thinking bills now. Canadians are really a shameful bunch. I hope the conservatives can win a majority then perhaps they can continue with a positive direction for Canada.

Definitely time for an election both in the U.S and Canada. Out with Bush and out with his Sidekick Steven Harper. my vote BRING OUR TROOPS HOME ALIVE

It's deja vue all over again. The game plan that the Harper party is using in Canada is the same game plan that the Bushies and Karl Rove used to totally bankrupt the American government. -Cause discension so the seats of government cannot function in a democratic manner. -Let me see, first non-bid contracts for military items (Canada has always been a proud non-militant nation until January 2005). -MPs that cannot speak with the press unless Harper allows and they are told what they can say and not say. -Scientists who can no longer speak to the public until it has been reviewed by Harper and then released what he sees fit. -Harper making a sham out of the present hearings by denying his people to show up, and then claiming disfunction. America is crumbling with the division and hatred that was instilled in their governing bodies. I fear Harper is doing the same with Canada. Let me think, a previous Canadian government that would not bow down to Bush, could it be that Harper's election was bought with money from the Bush administration???? It is beginning to smell like it.

The Conservatives may block the committee's work, but for good reason. When you're on the block and the accusers have already made up their mind and are 90% against you and won't let witnesses that may exonerate you testify, you start thinking that there's no way the truth could come out. As well, there is already a court case about the alleged "in and out" scheme. Why not wait for the results, instead of wasting more tax dollars on an Ethics Committee hearing that's there to just blow its horn and condemn the Conservatives in advance. Once the opposition behaves in a fair and mature way, maybe the Conservatives will be more cooperative.

I do not blame the Conservatives as much, but it sure is funny that as soon as we vote in our Municiple Federal Representatives, that they go to Ottawa and soon become the teething, bawling, cholic induced babies locked up in a sandbox we call Parliament. It is now time to be weaned off the diaper and sent to Kindergarten, the Senate.

YOu can't possibly think the trouble with our government stems from the minority Conservatives...it's all of the opposing parties who will do just about anything to stall bills, hold up legislation, and generally bugger up things so the Conservatives simply CANNOT be effective. No wonder Prime Minister Harper is so frustrated. He and his Government have been hog tied almost from the get go.Sure, lets have an election, elect a MAJORITY CONSERVATIVE Government and get on with the business of running our magnificent country! The other parties are so busy trying to scope out "dirt" of the political mud slinging kind , they won't be prepared anyway.

I live in the Environment Minister's riding. This week I received four more pieces of Yes/No junk mail. They are in a stack waiting for the door knockers from the Conservative Party when an election is called. I am so angry with the party's pious attitude towards so many issues. The 39th has dodged a number of public scandals that would have taken down any other government, but for their arrogance. This government has effectively shut down the media's ability to report. BTW, whatever happened to the "whistle-blower protection act". Here endith this rant.

The Conservative playbook on how to disrupt committees is typical of the kind of leadership this PM practices. As an Albertan, I am despondent at the lack of democracy and the unwillingness of the PM and his Alberta MPs to engage the public in meaningful conversations. My MP, Rob Anders is never seen or heard from in Calgary West. Phone calls are unanswered, it's almost like he does not exist. Either that or the PM has thrown a gag order over Anders because of his potential to reveal his extremeist views and thereby embarrass the harper government. Keep,in mind that Anders, according to CNN, was paid political heckler for Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, known for his flat-earthism on climate change.

Parliament is not doing badly-Harper the dictator just wants his way or the highway in everything-to hell with the people.

It would be interesting to know what Anne Hayes means when she refers to the media since CTV, The Globe & Mail, The National Post, most daily newspapers and a number of polling companies are controlled by Conservative families and/or have Conservatives as boards of directors.

In the following article, all of the companies are owned by Progressive Conservatives. Anne Heyes is wrong and is simply following in Harper's misinformation footsteps. Distorting the truth is one thing at which the Conservatives excel. ---- Media ownership in Canada by Astrid Lange Source : Toronto Star January 16, 2008 Astral Media owns 29 radio stations in Quebec and the Maritimes and 17 pay television stations (including The Movie Network, Mpix and Family Channel, and half of Teletoon). In April 2007, Astral Media announced it had struck a cash and stock deal to acquire 52 radio stations and two TV stations from Standard Broadcasting. CanWest Global owns the Global Television Network's 11 stations as well as the three TV stations in the CH-branded network. In January 2007, in partnership with a group from Goldman Sachs, CanWest bought Alliance Atlantis, which added 13 specialty channels including Showcase, HGTV Canada, Food Network Canada and History Television. CanWest owns 11 of Canada's biggest dailies (including the National Post, The Gazette in Montreal, the Ottawa Citizen and both of Vancouver's dailies, the Vancouver Sun and The Province). CTVglobemedia owns the CTV network and its 24 affiliates, and has full or partial ownership of 17 specialty television stations, The Globe and Mail and 35 radio stations across the country. CTVglobemedia's other conventional television assets include A-Channel, a second system that operates in major markets of Ontario and British Columbia: CKX-TV, a CBC television affiliate in Brandon, Man.; TQS; and ASN, a cable channel in Atlantic Canada. Osprey Media owns 21 dailies in Ontario (including the Kingston Whig-Standard and Peterborough Examiner) and 36 other papers. In 2001, Osprey bought 16 dailies and 12 other papers from Hollinger International. In 2002, Osprey acquired 30 more newspapers (including four dailies) from CanWest Global. Rogers Media owns several over-the-air and specialty TV channels (including OMNI, Rogers Sportsnet, the Shopping Channel and the Biography Channel), 44 radio stations in six provinces and magazines such as Maclean's, Chatelaine and Canadian Business. In June 2007, Rogers Media bought five Citytv stations, in Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. Torstar Corp. publishes the Toronto Star, The Record in Kitchener-Waterloo, the Hamilton Spectator, and the Guelph Mercury. The company also publishes 95 community newspapers in the southern Ontario marketplace. Quebecor Media owns eight dailies and 200 other local and community newspapers. In 2000, Quebecor bought Quebec's largest cable company, Videotron, and its French-language TV network, TVA. © Toronto Star

The liberals abstain from so many votes and don't even show up in Parliment - that is the reason for dysfunction. My party has abandoned their values and refuse to represent their constituents in Parliament.

Thanks Andrew for the blog and the chance to speak out. It is interesting to read the comments and look at the poll. I too believe Liberals attempt to control what is going on by blocking everything for no reason than to cause dysfunction. Seriously if all the politicians had the Country and it's people first and foremost on their minds would politics look the same. I believe the majority of Canadians want an improved justice system, something that works, the Liberals stalling on this bill is going to have a huge negative impact.