I'm not losing sleep over another opportunistic prorogation of the Parliament of Canada, but it's a reminder that we have no rules or even unwritten conventions for prorogation in Canada. There were no prorogations in the previous Parliament. It's a random event in Canada. 1/5

In contrast, just last year, Boris Johnson's attempt to prorogue amid Brexit was slapped down by the High Court, as against established conventions. In the UK, prorogation is typically an annual, uncontroversial event. But Johnson's plan was not unusual by Canadian standards.2/5

NZ hasn't bothered with prorogation since 1991. Australia does it rarely, and usually opportunistically like Canada, most recently in 2016. 3/5

Canadian reform proposals have usually focused on getting the consent of a majority or supermajority of MPs for prorogation...but have gone nowhere. But what we really need is regularized norms for prorogation. Either it happens annually (UK), or it doesn't at all (NZ). 4/5

There are good reasons both for and against having prorogation at all. But there is no good reason why it is so random in Canada. It's purely an opportunistic tool for governments to hibernate and escape scrutiny for a while, and re-emerge looking shiny and new. 5/5

Addendum: for a quick UK-Canada comparison, consult this 2013 piece by current @ParlInternship director @pejthomas https://www.pressreader.com/canada/ottawa-citizen/20131021/281762741992565