from my friend Rita ....
Steven Harper has shut down parliament because he does not agree with it.
Some say this is unprecedented.
In fact, Harper is following parliamentary tradition.
Consider the following precedents:
1629 King Charles I in England
1799 Napoleon in France
1913: Victoriano Huerta in Mexico
1933: Adolf Hitler in Germany
1936 Fransisco Franco in Spain
1939: Benito Mussolini in Italy
1973: Augusto Pinochet in Chile
2008: Steven Harper in Canada