Harper Costs Us an Extra $2 Million a Day

Parliament was to have returned Jan. 25 from its winter holidays.

But Stephen Harper had no intention of watching the Opposition parties crank up the parliamentary committee investigating Defense minister Peter MacKay and what he might really know about the torture of Canadian prisoners in Afghanistan by Afghan police.

If the committee established beyond a doubt that MacKay knew all about the torture but did nothing, it could eventually cost MacKay his cabinet job. And what if the investigation led beyond MacKay’s office?

Refusing to act to prevent prisoner torture that you know about is a war crime under the Geneva Convention that Canada signed in 1945.

Just before the Commons broke for the winter holidays, the Opposition parties had ordered Harper to make public secret government documents about torture of prisoners in Afghanistan.

By pulling the plug on Parliament and closing it down until March 3 before things got any further, Harper solved his problem.

Trouble for the rest of us is that Parliament still costs a lot of money even when it isn’t doing anything,

There are 1,200 employees in the House of Commons who have to be paid, session or no session. That’s $318 million a year,

And then MPs salaries have to be paid too, even if MPs are taking time off at the Olympic Games. MPs salaries cost $108 million a year.

And then don’t forget the Senators. Their salaries cost $25 million a year, and their staff and operational expenses add another $90 million a year.

Even for just 22 days, the whole thing comes to $48 million down the drain or something like $2 million a day for Harper’s timely shut-down.

Small wonder why the Harper government racked up a $56 billion deficit so quickly. Understandable when you waste $2 million a day closing down parliament.