The reviews are in

Jerad Gallinger:

While the anti-prorogation movement began online, it was not contained there for long. In communities across the country, Canadians opposed to prorogation have come together to say, "Enough is enough."

Today, rallies against prorogation will be held in Halifax, Truro, Sydney, Inverness, Antigonish, and in towns and cities from coast to coast to coast. Canadians from all political parties, as well as those with no partisan ties, will take to the streets together in support of democracy.

We condemn Mr. Harper’s decision to prorogue Parliament. We are appalled by his abuse of prime-ministerial powers, and his abuse of our trust.

It is not only our right, but our responsibility to protest abuses of power by those charged with safeguarding our democracy. If Canadians do not show our opposition to the abuse of power, there will be nothing to stop this or any future prime minister from sending members of Parliament home on a whim.

We must send a clear message to Prime Minister Harper and all those who would subvert our political system. Together, we say: No to prorogation! No to the abuse of power! Yes to a stronger, fuller democracy!

And James Travers:

It's taken less than 50 years for prime ministers, beginning with Pierre Trudeau, to take for themselves powers that 500 years ago belonged to kings. They now rule mostly in secret, are counselled by beholden whisperers and treat the Commons with disdain reserved here for the politically impotent.

One result was the Liberal sponsorship scandal, a scheme so opaque that Justice John Gomery couldn't find where the buck stopped. Another is the Conservative campaign to keep Canadians from knowing what and when ministers and generals learned about Afghanistan torture.

Symptoms of a worse disease, that criminal scheme and this political stonewalling prove that prime ministers can't be trusted, that they are no longer held in check by loose rules and precedents that rely so heavily on individual ethics and goodwill.

As Jenkins wrote at the beginning of the last century – and Canadians can demonstrate again Saturday – the cure is citizens who come down from the bleachers when taken for granted and abused.