General

Canada run by “a bunch of Gerald Fords”

The Economist slams the prorogation of Parliament

An editorial in this week’s Economist condemning Stephen Harper for proroguing Parliament is so angry it could have been written by… well, a Canadian. The move “looks like naked self-interest,” it charges, noting the government was facing a grilling over its misleading statements on Afghan detainees and its reluctance to limit carbon emissions. In the process, Harper has made his government look like it’s made up of “a bunch of Gerald Fords,” an insult so arcane it could only come from The Economist. “Like the American president, who could not walk and chew gum at the same time,” it thankfully explains, “they cannot, apparently, cope with Parliament’s deliberations while dealing with the country’s economic troubles and the challenge of hosting the Winter Olympic games.” If, as Harper has intimated, Canadians are supposed to be reassured by the notion our “decent system of government is in good hands” whether Parliament is suspended or not, the prorogation may soon lead them to “conclude that it isn’t,” the magazine warns.

The Economist

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