My Country is now an Autocracy

I thought this type of thing only happened in rogue African nations.

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.

For those of you not up on Parliamentary governments this means that the House of the People, where the elected officials of our nation go to make and break laws and the only real balance of power to the leadership of the Prime Minister and his Cabinet was forced to shut down today.

It would be kind of like President Bush shutting down the Congress and Senate and rule without any checks and balances.

Except this is worse.

With Parliament forced to shut down by the Prime Minister of the country, we are now an autocracy - we are now governed by a single ruler against the will of the majority of our elected officials and the citizenry.

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So what is the average person to do?

I would suggest that people get outraged if they aren't already. There is one thing in Canada we cherish more than anything and that is the protections of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that allow us to speak our minds, to be outraged. It's these rights and freedoms that protect us from things like, well.... an autocracy.

There are rallies planned for tonight and this weekend across the country - you can go here to find one in your city. If there isn't one in your city, plan one.

Follow Kevin Grandia on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kgrandia

Comments

[thomas gary]

12:55 PM on 12/05/2008

Kevin --- I think calling Canada an autocracy is a bit of a stretch --- ( An autocracy is a form of government in which the political power is held by a single, self-appointed ruler. ) Although I am not a fan of Harper, we did just have an election and more people voted for his party than any other.

I also think the GG made the right choice in allowing the house to be prorogued. This should allow cooler heads to prevail as well as allowing Canadians to let their elected reps know how they feel.

As much as you don't like to hear this, the majority of voters in this country do not want a coalition with the separatists of Quebec. We would have felt the same way if Harper would have signed a formal agreement with the Bloc like the Libs and NDP have just done.

The Cons will bring in a budget in January and if defeated, we should have another election and the Libs, NDP and Bloc can run as a coalition if they want.

Let the people decide --- I know another 300 million for an election but democracy isn't cheap.

[popfolly]

08:12 PM on 12/04/2008

Before becoming Prime Minister, Harper was the Master Mind of an extreme right wing entity known as "the Citizens Coalition. He appears to ahve decided to have one last stab at achieving his much Harper evidently decided to have one last stab at achiving a majority, this time by deliberately inserting highly provocative measures in his budget (see article in HuffPost) with absolutely no whiff of a plan to do anything about thousands of jobs lost and including plans to cut funding for social, environmental and cultural programs.See also Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine about how crises are used by politicians of his stripe to achieve their ends.

Though he obviously thought that the Opposition would assume their former supine position no matter what he did, this time they fought back.He will ultimately be defeated. This consummation has been devoutly wished by many who are not easily bamboozled ever since he took office. The electorates of both our countries must educate themselves to the dangers posed by people with an extreme right wing agenda.

[Mormon4Truth]

08:04 PM on 12/04/2008

Soon Bush will do the same here. Hold on to your hats.

[rgblue]

07:55 PM on 12/04/2008

Harper has the reputation here (south of Lake Ontario) of being Bush's mindless puppy dog. If you know Bush, then you know that's pretty bad.

[Daksian]

05:39 PM on 12/04/2008

I can't quite agree that we've become an autocracy...yet. This is certainly a step in the wrong direction, though, one that can lead to that slippery slope.

I am upset, but not surprised. Face it: it's the politically wise move for the GG, if not a courageous one. She gets to implore for 'cooler heads' without actually directing how the next stage in Canadian governance should go. Smart for her personally...but still cowardly.

[Ibis3]

04:32 PM on 12/04/2008

It might seem like an autocracy (technically, Her Excellency, or rather Her Majesty, is still in charge and wouldn't let Harper do anything that's officially unconstitutional/illegal), but it's only for another month. Harper will have to go back to the House in January. Notwithstanding Baird's statement that they would 'go over the Governor General's head directly to the people of Canada', there's no way they'll survive a January confidence vote. He seemed rather more conciliatory in his speech in front of Rideau Hall than he has of late and I hope (and suspect) she rapped him on the knuckles for his vitriol against the duly elected members from Quebec. If that's the case, he'll have to rethink his propaganda plan. I guess we'll see if that happens or not.

[mommadona]

04:19 PM on 12/04/2008

"With Parliament forced to shut down by the Prime Minister of the country, we are now an autocracy - we are now governed by a single ruler against the will of the majority of our elected officials and the citizenry."
__________________

I warned about this on another thread about a month ago.
Heads UP,Canada...and welcome to your own version of BUSHCO.

It's a branch of the same ilk who've tried to take over the US in recent days.

Neo-Con Chicken-Hawk, Free-Trade addicted, crony of the Bush Family uber-conservative to the point of hating the very institution they want to control....go figure, eh?

Where DID this one come from in your beautiful country?

[Daksian]

05:42 PM on 12/04/2008

Same place they always do.

Alberta.

(ok, that's an exaggeration, but the fact that Alberta has been solidly Conservative longer than I've been alive on both the federal and provincial level is kinda telling).

[Bra Rick]

06:50 PM on 12/04/2008

True..

Lived there a few years

[Daksian]

08:38 PM on 12/04/2008

Nice to meet a fellow survivor. ;)

[Rule Of Law]

03:53 PM on 12/04/2008

How does one person, in your system, have the power to make this happen? Why would your countrymen stand for it? Where is world outrage? What has Citizen Bush's response been....?

[jeremyemilio]

04:27 PM on 12/04/2008

Naw, it's not as bad as all that. The Governor General is a figurehead. Her power is real, in theory, but not in practice. Harper prorogued parliament through the Governor General, but the Governor General doesn't have the political clout to refuse him, really. If she did exercise this power, she would come off as a shameless partisan. Her theoretical power comes from the Queen, and trust me, Canadians don't mind being symbolically attached to the Queen, but they won't stand for that attachment being a literal and legal one. Harper took his ball and went home; think of it as a Canadian take on the philibuster. He's trying to buy time to sway a few members of the opposition parties to support him. It's ugly politics, no doubt, but the system has by no means given Harper an out here. He's risking his political career, and the long term credibility of his entire party, to temporary stave off almost certain defeat. Now it's just up to the coalition parties to ensure that he pays. However, be very wary of overestimating the Governor General's role in all of this; every moves she makes is pretty much determined by the moves made by the parties involved.

[Ibis3]

04:39 PM on 12/04/2008

The Prime Minister has the power to request a prorogation according to constitutional conventions. Usually this is done once a bunch of legislation has been passed and the government wants to take a break before starting on another round of legislation and the request to the GG is almost a technicality. This is the first time it's ever been used by a PM to avoid a confidence vote and so it's almost as if he's used a loophole. It's very unparliamentary to put the Governor General in a situation where no matter what she decides it could be considered 'interventionist' or political. It's possible a future government will close this loophole by means of some kind of regulation or legislation.

[schmlblk]

03:51 PM on 12/04/2008

Actually Michaëlle Jean's husband is the minor documentary filmmaker... she was a TV journalist (at Radio-Canada... the French language national television network).

[KrystynM]

03:13 PM on 12/04/2008

Wow, I'm actually quite speechless.

[laylahb]

02:47 PM on 12/04/2008

Great timing--four days before the Quebec elections. The fact that GG Jean, a minor documentary film-maker with no government al or executive experience, appointed as a figurehead, would be allowed to essentially create an autocracy leaves me speechless.

During the US elections, when there was a chance that McCain Palin might win, a lot of people said they'd move to Canada. My line was I could move back to Canada, with my passport and birth certificate. I have always proudly proclaimed my Canadian (Can-Ameri-Can) status.

When did Canada become a third-world banana/ maple sugar autocracy, goose-stepping to the beat of a right-wing Conservative loser..

[jeremyemilio]

04:05 PM on 12/04/2008

Well, on the up side, if the Coalition parties play this right (not that they will), this could wreck the conservatives. Even people opposed to the Coalition aren't very happy with the idea of Harper shutting down government in the middle of a financial crisis without passing a single bill, just so that he wouldn't have to lose a confidence vote. That's ugly politics. Conservatives may hold onto power, but they'll be a fragile, chastened bunch, and I see no way that Harper himself survives this.

[canuckmoose]

06:24 PM on 12/04/2008

Actually, just today.
We Canucks will no longer be able to look down our noses at your President.
Thanks goodness for that, at least.