Chattering class spreads across Canada while Christopher White emerges as political game changer

As Tony Clement, the Harper government industry minister, became the elite spokesperson for the chattering class of Ontario's cottage country, Tom Flanagan, Stephen Harper's former chief of staff, was distancing himself from his former boss, "I hope nobody thinks I'm a Harper stooge anymore."

Meanwhile, while Harper was chattering away about the economy, Jim Flaherty, his finance minister, contradicted his boss's comments, giving a different chatter line. But today is the day that Kevin Page, the Parliamentary Budget Officer, who the Harperites have tried to muzzle by reducing his budget, releases his report.

Also this week, Christopher White, a University of Alberta graduate student, has become the game changer in Canadian politics, as the facebook group Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament passed 178,000 members. On January 5, it had about 26,000 members. Unquestionably, the way politics is done in Canada is undergoing a huge change no matter the end result of the members on this facebook group.

Largely ignored by professional politicians and the media when he started it, Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament has now become a reference point for media types daily. For example, Jane Taber referred to it in her Globe and Mail piece this morning right there with her insights into the Kevin Page pending report.

After Clement, who represents a riding in Ontario cottage country, tried to pass off mounting criticism across Canada of  the decision to prorogue Parliament as merely comments from the elite of the chattering class, it was Flanagan who really broke ranks with the Harper gang.

Flanagan told Evan Solomon on the CBC¨Power and Politics show that prorogation was done to shut down the Afghan inquiry, but the government came up with childish talking points adding his comment about no .longer being a Harper stooge. Wow. Talk about distancing yourself from your former boss.

A big test for the anti-prorogation movement will come on January 23 with rallies planned for at least 40 communities all across the country.

As an aside, Michael J Morris reports has experienced a huge surge in traffic over the past week and my statistics show visitors are coming from every region of Canada and from large and small communities. The highest number of hits by story are on the prorogation issue. So, the chattering class of elites is spread far and wide in Canada.