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.