For the second time in slightly more than a year, Conservative Party Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is taking the extraordinary step of "proroguing" Parliament - effectively suspending all legislative activities and short-ciruiting a potentially embarrassing investigation into the torture of former Canadian prisoners in Afghanistan. One leading opposition figure called the move a Harper attempt "...to padlock Parliament and shut down democracy."
link to CBC story proroguing Parliament
The Prime Minister's office announced that Harper had spoken to the Governor-General Michaëlle Jean earlier today and asked her to shut down Parliament for more than two months. The formal request will require a face-to-face meeting between Harper and Jean before it can be acted upon, anticipated to take place sometime in the next few days. (Under the Canadian system, the largely ceremonial position of Governor-General is technically head of state and has the power to approve or refuse the Prime Minister's request. It is generally assumed that a Governor-General will grant a request like this from a Prime Minister, but there is no certainty that she will.)