Parliamentary Prorogue: Reasonable Pause or Rogue Rule? (Part 1)

Governor General Michaëlle Jean has prorogued Parliament again this year, postponing the opening date from January 25 to March 3, in response to a request from Prime Minister Harper. Professor Duane Bratt will discuss the constitutional implications and role of prorogation in the context of last year’s prorogation and the place it might have in managing ongoing minority governments. Speaker: Professor Duane Bratt, Mount Royal University Duane Bratt teaches political science and public policy in the Department of Policy Studies at Mount Royal University. He is also an Associate with the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary. Duane was educated at the Universities of Windsor (BA 1991, MA 1992) and Alberta (PhD 1996). His primary teaching area is international relations, with specialties in the sub-fields of international organizations and Canadian foreign policy. Duane is a regular guest on CITY-TV’s Breakfast Television and CBC-radio’s Wildrose Forum, as well as a general media commentator on political matters. Recent publications include: Canada and the Global Nuclear Revival (McGill-Queen’s University Press, forthcoming), The Politics of CANDU Exports (University of Toronto Press: Toronto, 2006), and co-editor, Readings in Canadian Foreign Policy: Classic Debates and New Ideas (Oxford University Press: Toronto, 2006).