Abuse of Power

By Baxter

Considering the mess that Congress currently is in, clear-thinking Americans might be forgiven if they feel a little jealous of Canadians, whose legislature is currently shut down.

But Canadians aren't happy at all. Yesterday, thousands of them turned out for rallies across the country to protest Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to prorogue Parliament until early March. Like the prorogation Harper requested (and was granted) to avoid a no-confidence vote in 2008, this current suspension of Parliament was accomplished with, shall we say, suspicious political motives.

Harper must have thought that since it was the dead of winter and Canada was gearing up for next month's Olympic games, no one would notice the prorogation or really care. He guessed wrong. When The Globe & Mail editorialized that "The Prime Minister is misusing the power to shut down Parliament, and in the process destabilizing Canada's democracy," it expressed the sentiments of many of yesterday's demonstrators.

But although Harper has precipitated a tug-of-war that will long fascinate constitutional scholars, we cats believe that most Canadians who hit the streets yesterday just want their government back at work because, well, stuff needs to get done.

To us here in the United States, this all feels pretty Bushian. We cats always assumed that the ever-unappealing Stephen Harper always had a direct phone line to Karl Rove in the White House. It appears now that Harper has not disconnected that line since last January but, rather, merely re-routed it to Texas. Which, on behalf of the Canadian troops who are fighting and dying in Afghanistan, makes us want to HISS.

(PHOTO: Julie Oliver, The Ottawa Citizen)