Mr. Johnson taught the word to the masses when he announced last month that he would soon prorogue, or suspend, Parliament. He did it in an effort to cut short the time that British lawmakers would have in the next few weeks to debate his Brexit plans, and the result has been chaos. With Parliament still in session through the middle of September, British lawmakers have found ample opportunity to engage in hardball tactics that have provoked a constitutional crisis.

Canadians have long known what proroguing is because it is allowed by our system of government and has occurred here too. The practice effectively allows our prime minister to shut down the country’s legislature for up to a year and wipe out all legislation that is in the works.