Don’t be surprised if the House of Assembly shuts down suddenly later this week or early next week before the nurses’ job action starts.
After weeks of no activity, there’s been a sudden flurry of night sittings and extended hours that seem designed to clear off a few pieces of legislation so the House can close well before the original planned closure in mid-June.
The reason for closing early is simple: there’s no way government could afford to have the House open with a nurses strike on the go at the same time the government’s pollster is in the field. That’s right folks: Corporate Research Associates is making its quarterly calls as we speak.
They can adjourn the sitting and then call it back later, if need be to send the nurses back to work suitably punished, as the Premier threatened today. Rest assured though, the House wouldn’t be called back to vote on the bill to end a nurses strike until Don Mills’ people have stopped making their calls or have all but finished.
Never forget the extent to which provincial government pronouncements are driven at certain times of the year by the poll-goosing imperative.
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