The Battle For Parliament Hill.

The Canadian government is in turmoil at the moment, to say the least. Harper's minority Conservative Government is in danger and dancing as fast as they can to escape it. The threat of a confidence vote and the possibility of a coalition government, which would include basically everyone but the Conservatives, sent the Prime Minister on a begging mission to the Governor General this morning. The Governor General just granted them a reprieve until January 26, 2009 by suspending Parliament.

In the meantime, it seems as if the masses, many of whom did not vote in the recent giant waste of money election, have mobilized. Rallies are planned all over the country. But this has to be my favourite (note: you do have to log into facebook for that link to work):

There is a Conservative party rally at Queen's Park on Saturday, December 6. At the same time, the Progressive Coalition will be holding a rally at City Hall. So someone has decided that the best way to resolve the dispute is in a giant tug of war, with the Conservatives at Queen's Park, the Progressive Coalition downtown, and the rope stretching up University. After all, the struggle for power is largely a metaphorical tug of war anyway.

The Facebook event page says:

"An official binding Tug of War is unprecedented in Canadian history. While some members of the House of Commons requested that the results of the competition be proportional, the Governor General has ruled that all Tugs of War shall be decided by a "First Past the Post" system. In this case, the "post" is Dundas."

Quite clever. The Progressive Coalition rally in Toronto will be hosted by Mary Walsh (of 22 Minutes fame) and will feature Stephane Dion and Jack Layton as speakers. It will begin at noon on Saturday, December 6 in Nathan Phillips Square. For more info on this and on Progressive Coalition rallies around the country, many of which are taking place today, click here.

Also, I would encourage you to visit the website for the Department of Culture. This group is a community of Canadian citizens who work in or are invested in arts and culture and who are "concerned about ensuring the social and cultural health and prosperity of our nation in the face of a Federal Government that is aggressively undermining the values that define Canada." There is some good stuff on there.

I firmly believe it is the duty of every citizen to be involved in their government. We are fortunate enough in this country to have a voice in our political process and in (or against) our government. We should use it.