'He's neglecting to do his job'

Where to from here -

It's hard to go back to work after the Christmas holidays.

You've just been filled with food and good-cheer, still tempted to stay up late and sleep in. The merriment has left you feeling the impossibility of facing another long winter of dragging yourself to work in the snow and the sleet. Let's be honest, no one wants to get out of bed on cold mornings to go shovel in the dark. And the darkness is thick and consistent, especially in Newfoundland where the sun often forgets to shine for days on end. The weather guy yammers on about low pressure systems and messy evenings which is not even slightly encouraging but the fact remains that everyone must work. It's a part of the human experience, doing something you would sometimes rather not for the greater good. Even the children must be shoved into snowsuits and hauled off to school. Taking an extended leave of absence is just a early afternoon fantasy that teases and tortures like the lottery tickets in your wallet. And calling in sick while tempting is merely a means of avoiding Monday but must be used sparingly to avoid suspicion.

It's not like you can call in sick until March.

Or can you?

Apparently the Conservative government can. Our feted Prime Minister has decided that another two months of vacation is a reasonable means of governing. Rather than return to work, Mr. Harper has prorogued the whole deal in order to fully concentrate on the upcoming Olympic festivities. Must be nice. Sure, we'd all like to focus on hosting the greatest party of our lives for a couple months, wouldn't we? But who can afford that? Politicians who will continue to draw salaries during the coldest months of the year while their staff ensures they have tickets to gold medal games, politicians who are often privy to a higher annual income than the rest of us anyway, that's who can afford it. Three months of paid vacation sounds glorious to me. Mind you, he doesn't refer to it as paid vacation or party planning. Mr. Harper claims to be "recalibrating" our country. He expects us to believe he will be adjusting the Conservatives precisely to serve us better in the future. This from the same guy who hasn't shown up for work three times in as many years.

He expects us to accept his lack of productivity with trust and passivity, he expects us to be dazzled into silence by the ensuing games, he expects us not to care. He hopes we won't notice that this closure conveniently coincides with the wave of criticism his government was positioned to face in the New Year. He hopes we won't notice the thirty-six bills that will fall to the house floor while everyone puts their patriotic faces on and heads west. He hopes we won't notice or consider the amount of money already poured into bringing these thirty-six bills to parliament in the first (or the second or third) place. And he hopes a couple more of his cronies warm Senate seats in March allowing him lengthier free reign.

I, for one, hope that crowd goes back to work.

Because this type of behaviour is embarrassing. The Olympic Games symbolize strong leadership, lifelong commitment and personal excellence through sport. Harper's decision to prorogue parliament actually goes face first against the Olympic spirit and ideology of the games. Rather than demonstrate any of the qualities listed above, our Prime Minister has chosen to avoid the tasks at hand and wait for things to just...blow over. He claims that this period of self-reflection will provide him an opportunity to figure how best to proceed in the spring but the likelihood of anything being accomplished before summer is close to nil. We all know how long it takes to get back into the swing of things after being away from work. Sure, it takes me almost a day to get organized and mentally prepared to tackle my desk after a particularly rough weekend and it's not like I'm leading a country here. I can only assume it will take the government quite a bit longer than a day to get back to a level one might consider productive.

So when Mr. Harper graces your television screen next month waxing on and off about how pleased he is to be hosting the world, keep in mind what he is neglecting while doing so. Specifically, governing our country, leading Canada. Or more simply put, he's neglecting to do his job.