Calgarians frustrated about the prorogation of Parliament are protesting January 23 at Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Calgary office.

Critics of the move to recess Parliament until March say it’s anti-democratic and an abuse of power.

“The purpose of the protest is to give Calgarians who are concerned about Harper’s decision an opportunity to voice that concern and express their belief that our democratic institutions need to be defended against what we see as highly partisan and anti-democratic action,” says protest organizer Scott Payne.

More than 205,000 people have joined the Facebook group Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament in protest.

Prorogation is typically done to signal the end of the parliamentary session or when there is a change in the governing party’s leadership. The move kills any bills that have not received Royal Assent — in this case it shut down a parliamentary committee investigating allegations that the Conservative government ignored warnings about the torture of Afghan detainees.

“It’s clear that none of those incidents apply here,” says Payne. “It appears that what Stephen Harper has done is use prorogue to get out of a situation where he was feeling the heat on a few different issues.”

The protest will start at 1 p.m., at Harper’s riding office at 1600 90 Ave. S.W.