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Parliament shut down (Canada)
Democratic Underground Latest Breaking News —
... from taking him down at that time. ... About 50 demonstrators greeted him as his black vehicle entered the gates of Rideau Hall, most of them cheering on the Prime Minister. The vast majority appeared to be Tory staffers or Conservative Party members. They were chanting slogans such as "No secret deal!", a reference to the coalition-support agreement by the Liberals, NDP and Bloc Québécois that would oust Mr. Harper and install Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion in his place. Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.2008...
Bare Naked Politics: The ongoing situation in Canada
The Reaction —
... Well, he did so this morning, and she granted his request -- meaning that there will be no no-confidence vote until, at the earliest, Parliament resumes sitting late next month. The government may then lose a no-confidence vote on the Throne Speech or the budget, but, in the meantime, both sides (and the Conservatives even more so because they have more money) will campaign aggressively to woo public opinion. ...
Kevin Grandia: My Country is now an Autocracy
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com —
... The Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, was just given the go-ahead to shut down the Canadian parliament to avoid a vote of non-confidence by the majority of the House of Commons. This all sounds very bland I know, but it amounts to the formation of an autocracy against the will of the citizens. ...
Prorogue
Lawyers, Guns and Money —
I've been in transit for much of the week so haven't been able to say as much about the story as I'd like, but Canada's Governor-General has permitted Stephen Harper to "prorouge" (or suspend) government to avoid the confidence vote he would almost certainly have lost. So the opposition prevented Harper's overreaching but I'm guessing won't succeed in toppling his government in January, and anyway Harper will stay in power for the time being. I'm not sure that waiting until after the Liberals select a new leader in April is the worst thing in the world, although I would have ...
Canadian Politics: Prime Minister Cancels Parliament To Preserve Government
All articles at Blogcritics —
In an attempt to prevent his government from going down to defeat in the House of Commons and be replaced by a coalition made up of opposition Members of Parliament, Prime Minister Steven Harper has received permission from Governor-General Michaelle Jean to suspend the current session until January 26th/09. Taking advantage of a little known parliamentary technicality called "prorogation", which gives the Prime Minister the right to shut down Parliament in case of an emergency, Harper will avoid having to face a vote on his fiscal policy scheduled for December 8th. The ...
