Background:
Canada is a parliamentary democracy. This means that Canadians in each riding (there are 308 riding) elect a person to be their representative in the house of commons (a Member of Parliament). The party that elects the most members of parliament form the government. If a party has more than 154 seats in the house of commons, it is a majority government, if less than 154 seats in the house of commons, it is a minority government. Political party select their leaders in Canada and the leader of the governing party is the Prime Minister, while the leader of the opposition party with the most seats is the Leader of the Opposition.
Governments must maintain the confidence of the house of commons. This means that they must succeed in convincing at least 154 members of parliament to agree with them on all matters of confidence (normally things like budgets, but a prime minister can elect whether or not any vote in the house is a 'vote of confidence'). If the government fails to pass a vote of confidence, the government is said to have lost the confidence of the house. When governments do not have the confidence of the house of commons, the Prime Minister (the leader of the party that has formed government) must ask the Governor General to dissolve parliament. The Governor General must then decide whether to form a new government from the members of the existing house of commons, or to call an election.
Rather than face a pending vote of confidence in the house (on a most mean spirited economic update that was nearly guarunteed to fail, which would have ham-strung the ability of the opposition parties to meaningfully compete in future elections, prevented federal public servants from striking until 2011, and removed the obligation of pay equity from the federal public service), the present government has chosen to ask the governor general to "prorogue" the house. Meaning, to suspend the business of the house to a latter day - specifically January 26, when the government will present its budget (another confidence matter).
Through some incredible measure of luck for the sitting government, the Governor General permitted the request and has prorogued the parliament after only 3 weeks of session and less than 2 months from the last federal election.
This is an affront to our parliamentary system and effectively sets a dangerous precedent where any prime minister can avoid accountability in the house of commons.
