Dion and insenaty
I have coined the term "insenaty" to describe politicians who agree that the Senate needs reforming but will come up with any reason not to reform it.
Former Liberal leader, Stephane Dion is no exception.
"In fact, the situation could be even worse in Canada than in the United States, as we do not have a constitutional mechanism to solve disagreements between two elected chambers claiming the same legitimacy to speak for the people," Dion said.
Um, excuse me? So what's the current procedure, professor, because it seems you forgot? If the Senate defeats a bill from the House, that's it. It's done. And that's the point! The bill obviously doesn't satisfy enough regions of the country.
"Bill C-7, in allowing Parliament to unilaterally reform the Senate, is truly a constitutional Trojan horse," Dion said.
Anything would be better than our current 'appointment for life' system. This whole "Trojan horse" argument is fear mongering. Why not open the constitution for just senate reform? Ooh, the big bad Quebec separatists are gonna be mad! I say screw 'em.
It's ridiculous that New Brunswick has 10 senators and BC and Alberta each have 6. It makes no sense whatsoever and to accept the status quo is just stupid.
It's insenaty.
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5 comments:
Good post!
Dion is actually wrong about the States, to boot. There is no constitutional mechanism to resolve a difference between their House & Senate. A bill that does not pass both simply dies. The key difference is that does not bring down their government, since there is no need to maintain confidence as in our parliamentary system.
"It's ridiculous that New Brunswick has 10 senators and BC and Alberta each have 6. It makes no sense whatsoever and to accept the status quo is just stupid."
Electing Senators or changing their terms of service does not fix that. One would think the west would be aghast at having a democratically-elected Senate thoroughly dominated by the eastern provinces flexing its constitutional muscles.
This may not be very Conservative of me, but I oppose electing Senators until such time as the powers of the Senate are reformed. The Senate is a relatively benign body as it exists today. Start electing gasbag politicians to it, and it will quickly turn malignant. The first time we face a 1975-Australia style showdown, we'll rue the day we ever opened this Pandora's box.
It' s a good thing we Québecois didn't sign the constitution.
And we won't sign one that says Canada on it either.
"And we won't sign one that says Canada on it either."
Except the back of a welfare cheque.
The debate about the future of the senate does not need the opinions of the Liberal party. No one is listening to Dion. Why would you?
"welfare cheque."
if you could actually read la langue you might actually realize that the lowest unemployment rate in the country after Regina is in Quebec city at a measely 4%. In Montreal there's signs reading "Nous embauchons" , but I suppose you might think that's a swear word
If you want to blame someone for the oil theft, point the finger at Ontario, those guys are sinking in red ink and living beyond their means while draining every penny they can out of Ottawa, after all, it's in their province and they tax the very soil the head of state sits on.
96% of us are working just as hard or harder than you holier than thou's and paying more taxes, cry me a river no PST Alberta, boo hoo. Dont be surprised when France decides to put Labrador back into Quebec where it belongs. The French army is right up there with the US army and Sarkozy is thumping the military drums. We don't need the Queen any more than you need sand in your oil!
En passant, prend ta maudite reine et la peine de prison unifolié et sors de mon pays une fois pour tout! Le temps pour la reine au Québec est hors la date d'échéance. Dégage de mon pays maudite sans-dessin.
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