Stephen Harper has an impressive skill set. He had a chance, himself, to bring more honour to governance. But since the opening bell when he elevated a floor-crosser and an unelected senator to his Cabinet, he has shown himself to be a leader whose abiding imperative is political opportunism.Lawrence Martin, The Globe and Mail (Dion’s defining moments, 2006–12-14)
Speaking to a teachers conference in Ottawa on November 9th, British Columbia Senator and senior Conservative Party figure Gerry St. Germain said:
You just can’t tinker with [senate] reform
Apparently Stephen Harper wasn’t listening to Germain. His plan to tinker with the Senate would bypass constitutional change and see in the Senate some elected members, some non-elected, some with lifetime terms, and some with 8 year terms.
In short: Franken-Senate.
Its all a smokescreen, a charade which he’ll employ in an election in order to paint as ‘undemocratic’ anyone who defends the senate’s construction and purpose. Since few understand how the senate works, what its role is in our government and society, and why tinkering with it is so mind-bogglingly dangerous, we shall look at the senate in detail in the near future.
If Harper were serious about democratic reform in Canada, he’d first fix the House of Commons and his own sorry record.