Harper's Game...

Is looking more and more like Ralph Klein - minus whatever attribute it was that made Ralph "untouchable" to Alberta voters.

Like Ralph, Harper is obviously rather thin-skinned, and would much rather govern by decree than actually be held accountable in the House of Commons. Yesterday, it came to light that Harper was asking the Governor General to prorogue parliament until sometime in October.

Now, I could accuse Harper of trying to subvert democracy (he is), but the real question is what is his game?

I'd be more than a little surprised if he needs another four weeks to finish writing his script for the fall sitting of Parliament.

If his purpose is to trigger an election (by way of a throne speech so noxious the rest of the parties won't work with it at all), that would seem a trifle out of character for a man whose lust for power has been overshadowed only by his desperation to retain it.

While the Liberals under Dion haven't made huge gains in the polls, it's not like Harper has gained anything either. In fact, we appear to have something of a political stalemate right now.

Triggering an election right now likely results in another minority government, and frankly it's a crap-shoot whether Harper would wind up in the PMO again or not.

(Over at Impolitical, there's a rather interesting read on the prorogue as a means for Harper to avoid spillover from Ontario's provincial election (and possibly to have his MPs help his Ontario ideological soulmates in their campaign?)