Prorogue

Linda McQuaig, Toronto Star, Jan 12 2010)  Stephen Harper has created a hornet's nest for himself with his decision to prorogue Parliament, arousing the wrath of even the social-networking crowd.

The Prime Minister isn't stupid. He likely realized his action would get him in trouble, but that it would be less trouble than he'd be in if Parliament kept sitting.

First Prorogue, then Eviscerate

(The Economist, January 7, 2010)  The timing said everything. Stephen Harper, the prime minister, chose December 30th, the day five Canadians were killed in Afghanistan and when the public and the media were further distracted by the announcement of the country’s all-important Olympic ice-hockey team, to let his spokesman reveal that Parliament would remain closed until March 3rd, instead of returning as usual, after its Christmas break, in the last week of January.

Liberal leader says PM "Is showing his disregard for the democratic institutions of our country"

(Adrian Wyld, The Toronto Star, December 31, 2009)  OTTAWA–Furious opposition MPs accused Prime Minister Stephen Harper of muzzling the House of Commons after he moved for the second time in a little more than a year to suspend Parliament.

(The Canadian Press, December 30, 2009)  Prime Minister Stephen Harper will prorogue Parliament Wednesday for a two-month break.

The House of Commons and the Senate will come back in March, after the Vancouver Olympics, for a Speech from the Throne and a budget. The move will have the effect of stalling all bills currently in Parliament, including crime bills that the government had said were being delayed by the opposition.

Tories trying to 'shut down democracy,' Liberal MP Goodale says

What’s at stake here is nothing less than our system of government