Harper Has the Power

Since October 25th, the fine citizens of Prince George - Peace River have been without an elected representative. No MP results in a lack of representation in Ottawa and poor government for all constituents. They aren't alone though, two other seats have been vacant since late October and early November as well, yet there is still no by-election. Thus far, there has been no indication by Mr. Harper he will call a by-election in any of the districts. He has until May 2nd to call one for Calgary Centre-North.

Federal electoral law dictates an election must be called for a district within 180 days of a seats vacancy. In theory, Harper could wait for nearly six months to call any election at all. Often, Prime Minister hold off holding by-elections for this long because of a looming general election. Should this be the case, those federal election worries and quite justified aren't they?

Manitoba adopted a wonderful piece of legislation under their NDP government that requires a by-election to be called within 90 days of a vacancy. Harper and all other provinces should move quickly to adopt a similar law. It ensures citizens will not be without a voice in the capital for too long. The law does make an exception though, if a general election will be held within the next 90 days, the vote can be deferred until that date. This avoids voter fatigue in the constituency and wasting money.

Still, this federal business is puzzling. It appears that the Conservatives could win two of the seats pretty easily. Granted, Harper has done this before. In April 2009 when Dawn Black resigned, he waited until November to hold an election. This, coupled with proroguing Parliament multiple times, one would gather Harper must really hate parliamentary democracy.

Just as most provinces and the federal government have set dates for general elections, the time has come to set dates for all future by-elections within 90 days of vacancy. Everyone deserves a voice in Ottawa and we need to respect that right.