Prorogation creating divisions within Ontario Liberal Party

A former MPP and potential Liberal leadership candidate is lashing out at premier Dalton McGuinty and his decision to prorogue the Ontario legislature.

Gerard Kennedy, who was a federal MP when Stephen Harper prorogued Parliament in 2010, is calling McGuinty's decision to prorogue "concerning."

"I think people should be certainly questioning why this is in place and I still don't have any understanding as to why this is necessary," he told the Globe and Mail.

"If the general idea is that we won't see the legislature even though we have a government in place until the leadership, I think that doesn't make sense to me. I can't reconcile that. ... Right now, I don't understand it at all, the rationale for why this is being done.

"In general, prorogation should not be used except to organize [government] business. It should not be a way to avoid legislative scrutiny."

[ Related: Where is the prorogation outcry? ]

In turn, Liberal insider Warren Kinsella has come out swinging against Kennedy.

"Is it ever a good idea to attack the guy without whom you wouldn't have been elected in the first place?" Kinsella wrote in his blog on Friday, referring to Kennedy's days in the McGuinty Liberal caucus.

"The guy you left high and dry to go to Ottawa? To attack him, a potential leadership candidate, on behalf of a declared leadership candidate? To give high-sounding civics lessons, when you couldn't even get re-elected in your own seat?"

Other Liberals have also come to the defence of McGuinty.

MPP Dr. Helena Jaczek told Yahoo! Canada News that McGuinty's decision to adjourn was necessary because the "atmosphere was toxic and not constructive; nothing was getting done in the Legislature."

Former Liberal MP Dan McTeague wouldn't attack McGuinty's prorogue but did acknowledge that it's a risky political move.

"I heard through many that the Opposition at Queen's Park was not going to allow another budget and therefore the Province was heading to another election by March," he told Yahoo!.

"Harper prorogued twice and Canadians rewarded him with a majority. [The media] defended Harper calling his prorogation a "reset" of Parliamentary business, the same right-wing media now appears to have become conspicuously less generous and apologetic," he said.

"That aside there are a number of questions which need to be answered that are, so far, unclear. I am of course a Liberal and uncertain as to the fallout of McGuinty's gambit. The question is, if it worked for Harper, will it work for the Provincial Liberals?"

[ Related: Jumping ship may have worked for Dalton McGuinty but history suggests next premier won't fare as well ]

Even though he's not towing the party line, you would have think that Kennedy will win some friends for his latest comments.

Kennedy is saying the same things he said when the Harper prorogation caused a national outcry in 2010. In other words, he isn't being a hypocrite like so many others on this issue.

To me that sounds like a politician "worth his salt."