Introducing Canada's minority dictatorship

[CHIMO]

By making a habit of closing Parliament, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has once again freed himself from the inconvenience of having any elected counterweight. Having dispatched what Jeffrey Simpson called the Friendly Dictatorship, please welcome the Minority Dictatorship.

Who would have said, four years ago, that despite winning only a minority government Mr. Harper would be able to concentrate more power in his own hands than Jean Chrétien ever did with a majority?

Mr. Chrétien had strong ministers – Paul Martin, Allan Rock, John Manley, Ralph Goodale – able to counterbalance him in cabinet. From a Quebec perspective, one cannot see in this Tory government even one minister who could stand up to the Prime Minister on any issue.

Compared to Mr. Harper, and after the demise of Stéphane Dion, Michael Ignatieff is as weak as anyone could imagine. The Liberal Leader clearly admitted his own weakness when he announced his intention not to defeat the government for the next year or so. Jack Layton, once the only real opposition to Mr. Harper in Canada, was the one who saved the government last autumn. The only brave members left now are Gilles Duceppe and his 47 Bloc Québécois MPs.



http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/introducing-canadas-minority-dictatorship/article1423355/


From the activity tonight it looks like politics in Canada is heating up.

[HeresyLives]

1. Harper is getting trashed left, right and centre on this.

The Economist was icing on the cake. :)