Tom Flanagan: "I'm no Harper stooge"

Could a mutiny be brewing in the Conservative Party? It would have been nice if some conservatives had come out and criticized Mike Harris for his excesses during the "Common Sense Revolution".

Mr. Harper’s former chief of staff and mentor, Tom Flanagan, now a political professor at the University of Calgary, offered another explanation for prorogation. On CBC's Power & Politics with Evan Solomon yesterday, he said that everyone knows the only reason Mr. Harper prorogued was to “shut down the Afghan inquiry.” Mr. Flanagan was referring to the special Commons committee investigation into the Afghan detainee affair that has caused much grief for the government.

He also called the government’s defence of prorogation “childish,” criticizing the PMO talking points that defended the move. The talking points, released Sunday, made no case for prorogation. Rather, they condemned Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff for taking an “extended vacation” in Europe over the Christmas holidays. Mr. Flanagan noted, jokingly, that his comments certainly show that he is no “Harper stooge.”