By Don Davies

Stephen Harper’s decision to prorogue Parliament is gaining notoriety—and infamy.

It’s not difficult to see why.

His action undermines Canadian democracy by barring Parliament from holding the government accountable.

It halts all committee work in progress, including in-depth studies on federal prison programs for the mentally ill, pension reform, and the inquiry into Afghan detainee torture allegations.

It kills 36 government bills, all of which will have to be re-introduced at square one. Although many of these Conservative bills are of dubious value or outright misguided, a number of them do deal with important issues, like consumer protection, white-collar crime, and on-line criminal activity.

And it is unacceptable to shut down our elected chamber simply because the prime minister wants to avoid criticism.

This decision, however, is as unsurprising as it is undemocratic. It is part of a long-standing pattern of running from accountability that has marked the Harper administration from the start.

Consider that this is the second time Harper has prorogued the House in 12 months—both times to avoid the scrutiny of, and accountability to, both Parliament and the Canadian public.

It is the fourth time he has abruptly ended a session in three years. He’s also broken his word on fixed election dates.

And it is accompanied by an increasingly blatant disregard for the rule of law, including refusing to comply with access to information orders or to disclose to parliamentarians unredacted documents pertaining to the torture issue in Afghanistan.

Ironically, while Stephen Harper is actively blocking elected members of Parliament from working in the House of Commons, he is moving swiftly to appoint more unelected senators—something he promised he would never do.

Boiled down, from both a policy perspective and a practical one, the conducting of our nation’s business has been set back, and our tradition of respect for parliamentary democracy is being damaged.

As a parliamentarian, there are a number of issues that I would have liked to see tackled during the prorogation period. Certainly, there is no shortage of important subjects that need our attention.

There is a pension crisis in Canada. Many individuals are struggling to find work and need help to recover from the economic recession. Families are challenged in every respect.

Post-Copenhagen, environmental urgencies remain unaddressed. Homelessness, a lack of affordable housing, and the need for accessible, quality childcare are pressing. We are facing a huge deficit, and serious questions of fiscal policy and taxation choices must be made.

Of all these critical issues, I believe we particularly need to focus attention on the social agenda and the environment. This embraces issues that have been generally ignored by the Conservatives, but which affect many Canadians, including our most vulnerable.

So, if I were in Parliament in February, I would be working on three major issues: housing, poverty, and the environment.

We need to implement a national housing strategy with the goal of ensuring that every single Canadian has decent, affordable shelter. Through years of Liberal and Conservative neglect, the federal government has been totally absent from this arena. My colleague Libby Davies has a bill before Parliament that would establish such a strategy, and if we were in session next month, we could be moving that bill closer to implementation.

We need to address the appalling rates of child and seniors’ poverty in our country. We managed to get billions of federal dollars rolling within months when faced with a crisis of the banking and business community. I believe similar concentrated efforts to ensure no Canadian lives below the poverty line are equally achievable—and February in Ottawa would be a great time to start. Universal childcare, increased pensions for seniors, and poverty-reduction programs across the board should not wait any longer.

We need to develop a national green jobs strategy that will put Canada’s industrial and manufacturing sectors on track, creating the well-paying employment our citizens need on a clean and sustainable basis. And every month we fail to address climate change is a month closer to environmental and economic disaster. In my view, parliamentary attention is vital to sustaining momentum in this area.

Canadians expect their MPs to work together to find solutions for the challenges facing our country. They expect us to do so when it requires sacrifice, hard work, and, yes, even some criticism—just as they do, every day, themselves.

Until Parliament resumes, however, we will continue to do the important work that is needed in our communities—meeting constituents, working with local groups, and listening to the priorities of our citizens.

I, for one, will let Harper know what I hear.

Don Davies is the NDP MP for Vancouver Kingsway.