Twice in the past twelve months, the Governor General of Canada, Michaëlle Jean, who is the representative of the Queen of England in Canada, has prorogued the Canadian Parliament using something called a “reserve power”. A reserve power is one of those fiddly little remnants of monarchy. Since about 1920, the governor-generals have not been advised by the English government but the local government, but the authority of the office is monarchical in origin, the office is appointed by the Queen of Canada, who is of course the Queen of England, too.

Oh, hell, here's a Wikipedia link, hehe: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008%E2%80%932009_Canadian_parliamentary_dispute