OTTAWA  –  “To me, it is very telling that the Leader of the Liberal Party, Michael Ignatieff has not appeared in the House of Commons for over a week,” states Leon Benoit, Member of Parliament for Vegreville-Wainwright. “After eight days of Parliament sitting, he disappeared and hasn’t been seen since.”

“For weeks Mr. Ignatieff complained about the routine prorogation of Parliament and claimed that MPs could only be ‘working’ if they were in Ottawa,” explained Benoit. “His actions certainly call his sincerity into question.”

Benoit explained that indeed, some constituents were concerned about the prorogation of Parliament until he explained that it is a routine, constitutionally-legitimate process.  In fact, prorogation has occurred 105 times in the last 143 years.  The average Parliamentary session lasts approximately one year which was indeed the length of the last session.

As the Prime Minister pointed out, the Economic Action Plan implemented by the Government a year ago included one of the most comprehensive stimulus packages in the industrialized world.  “As of the end of 2009, all of the stimulus and budget measures had been adopted and implemented.  While the continued delivery of our Economic Action Plan remains a top priority, the fact is that the economic landscape today is fundamentally different than a year ago,” says Benoit. “It was time to consult with Canadians again, recalibrate our agenda and set new priorities.  That was the purpose of prorogation—a purpose entirely consistent with the past practice of all federal governments.”

Benoit took the opportunity to conduct 17 town hall accountability sessions throughout the Vegreville-Wainwright riding and constituents who attended provided input on what they hoped to see in this, and future, federal budgets.

“I was happy to pass on these messages from my constituency and even more pleased to see our Government deliver on the vast majority of them,” concludes Benoit. “We are working to maintain and increase Canada’s economic recovery.  It is unfortunate Mr. Ignatieff is not participating – clearly his concern is playing politics, not the best interests of Canada and Canadians.”