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Harper vows to name 18 new senators As Tories eye a Red Chamber majority by 2010, opposition wonders what happened to promises of reform From Friday's Globe and Mail December 12, 2008 at 4:17 AM EST OTTAWA — Conservatives are on pace for a Senate majority by 2010 as Prime Minister Stephen Harper drops his objection to Senate appointments and vows to fill all current vacancies by Christmas. Faced with the possibility of losing power next month to an opposition coalition, Mr. Harper's office says the soon-to-be-appointed Tories are the party's best hope of delivering on Senate reform given the current political context. Veteran activists for an elected Senate supported the announcement, saying the government is right to be concerned about how the coalition would fill the 18 vacancies. "If the coalition or a Liberal government came to power, it would kill the prospects of Senate reform for at least a generation," said Roger Gibbins, president of the Canada West Foundation. Liberals and New Democrats said the Prime Minister's announcement amounts to a shocking reversal for the leader of a party that has vowed not to appoint unelected senators. NDP Leader Jack Layton said the government's move reminds him of the famous line from Tory prime minister Brian Mulroney, who embarrassed his Liberal rival John Turner with the line: "You had an option, sir." Mr. Mulroney was criticizing Mr. Turner for refusing to reverse a flurry of Senate appointments made by prime minister Pierre Trudeau in his final days in office. "It's a bit of a shocker, in a way, that Mr. Harper would come and reverse himself completely on the Senate," Mr. Layton said. A government official said the Prime Minister remains committed to an elected Senate. "[but] as long as the Senate exists in its present form, Senate vacancies should be filled by a government that Canadians elected, not a government that Canadians rejected." The Liberal-NDP coalition, supported by the Bloc Québécois, has not backed down from talk of ousting the Conservative government when Parliament resumes in early 2009. Tories say they want to avoid the possibility that the 105-member Senate gets filled with members opposed to Senate reform - or with separatist leanings. Conservatives have repeatedly suggested the coalition would appoint Bloc senators, even though Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe said he has specifically asked the Liberals not to do so. All vacancies will be filled by individuals willing to sit as Conservatives and willing to support legislation requiring Senate elections and term limits. However, the 18 Tories will not be required to commit to a specific term, meaning they could remain in the Senate until the mandatory retirement age of 75. During the 2006 campaign, Mr. Harper attempted to assuage concerns of a possible Conservative majority government by citing the Liberal-dominated Senate. "The reality is that we will have, for some time to come, a Liberal Senate, a Liberal civil service - at least senior levels have been appointed by the Liberals - and courts that have been appointed by the Liberals," Mr. Harper said at the time. "So these are obviously checks on the power of a Conservative government." Conservative Senator Bert Brown, who was elected in an Alberta referendum and appointed by Mr. Harper last year, says he's disappointed he was personally not able to persuade other provinces to follow Alberta's lead by electing Senate nominees. Mr. Brown noted that with 12 more senators set to turn 75 next year and another two in 2010, the Conservatives are just months away from being able to ensure a majority in the Senate through appointments. "It was a necessary evil right now to fill the vacancies so the Senate could function properly," Mr. Brown said. ***** Please take a seat If Stephen Harper sticks with his just-announced intention to pack the Senate with Conservatives, he will fill all 18 seats now vacant with Tories and do the same with 12 more in 2009 that become vacant by manadatory retirement at age 75. Then in 2010, he could do the same with two more empty seats. SENATE SEATS BY PARTY Independent (4) Progressive Conservative Party (3) Conservative Party (20) Other (1) Independent NDP (1) Liberal Party (58) Vacant_seats (18) BY PROVINCE/TERRITORY Total Filled Vacant B.C. 6 3 3 Alberta 6 6 0 Sask. 6 5 1 Man. 6 6 0 Ont. 24 22 2 Que. 24 20 4 N.B. 10 8 2 N.S. 10 7 3 PEI 4 3 1 Nfld. 6 5 1 Yukon 1 0 1 NWT 1 1 0 Nunavut 1 1 0 Total 105

i heard on the radio this am that there is talk of 18 new Conservative senators being appointed before this christmas. sooooo not impressed. i will look for more solid info.

aw i'm sorry dave! hugs to you..

:grin:

so do you have to picket?

while we are all bitching... OC transpo is on strike, and it is too dangerous for the yellow school buses to run so they're cancelled. however it is, apparently, perfectly safe for all of the staff to try and get there. not to mention, i will have hardly any of my students in class. i hate the ottawa school board sometimes. [let the teacher-bashing ensue! ]

commentary from the globe: Our Robert Mugabe moment, and other unpleasant memories LAWRENCE MARTIN From Monday's Globe and Mail December 8, 2008 at 12:00 AM EST From the nine Ottawa days that shook and debased our little political world, there was madness and mischief and moments that won't, unfortunately, abandon the memory for a good deal of time. Our Robert Mugabe moment Surely whoever made this comparison was joking. But read the headlines in The New York Times, on CNN, in papers across the globe: "Canadian leader suspends Parliament to stay in power." Would Robert M. approve? A prime minister promises the Opposition a confidence vote. A prime minister sees he will lose that vote. A prime minister moves to shut down the House of Commons, lock the doors of Parliament. Maybe you wouldn't get much argument from the African strongman. We were told our House was dysfunctional in August when the PM overturned his own fixed-election-date law to go to the polls. We were effectively told again last week it was dysfunctional when, like then, it wasn't. And did a great rush of disgust from our citizenry greet the lockdown? Not really. As polls suggested, most Canadians, beholding the ineptitude of the opposition Liberals, applauded. Governor-General zips her lips The G-G makes a decision of historic proportion. She decides, in effect, that Stephen Harper remains in power. She issues not a word of public explanation. No one complains about her cone of silence. It's convention, we are told. In this democracy, we are not entitled to hear the reasons. Simple as that. And everyone rolls over and lets the convention stick. Back to your tea, G-G. The Hogwash Hall of Fame Falsehoods being a leader's best friend, our Prime Minister rolled out at least a half dozen complete canards, some of which should be candidates for the Hogwash Hall of Fame: He claimed there was no flag at the coalition ceremony, that the opposition would be allowed a confidence vote, that it was forming a separatist coalition, that the Liberal leader was not entitled to form a government, that the Bloc had a veto over the coalition, that the Bloc was promised seats in the Senate. All dead wrong. But so what if the bullshine meter goes off the charts? We're so used to politicians putting the truth to death that it doesn't matter any more. If it's commonplace, it's not news. The PM paid no price. He won last week's PR campaign in a walk. Demagoguery pays Canadians democratically elect MPs to their federal Parliament. Whether they be separatists, botanists, or snow boarders, they have a perfect right and responsibility to partake in our governing process. Bloc Québécois MPs have performed responsibly in the House of Commons for 15 years. They reached an agreement not to bring down an NDP-Liberal coalition for 18 months. In high dudgeon, the PM portrayed the opposition grouping as a separatist coalition, as the next closest thing to a separatist takeover. The Liberals were out "to destroy Canada." He stoked anger across the Prairies, revived the long-silent separatist issue, and skilfully changed the debate terrain from his pilloried economic statement to national unity. It showed again - remember his painting all Liberals as anti-Israeli and non-war supporters as pro-Taliban - that demagoguery works. Oversimplify, hyperbolize, prey on people's base instincts. Score big. Liberals as losers For all Stephen Harper's handiwork, the performance of Stéphane Dion, who must resign now, was worse. The Liberals had the government on the run. They let the occasion pass them by - and won't get another chance like it. Through their ineptitude, they brought Gilles Duceppe, having said he wasn't a coalition member, to the coalition-signing agreement. For a critical national TV broadcast, they brought in an embarrassing video of their dazed leader. They kept star player Michael Ignatieff in the shadows. They let Stephen Harper set the terms of the debate. In the Commons they were pitiful. When it was apparent that Mr. Harper would break his vote promise and cut and run to the Governor-General for mercy, they could have had him. Like the Conservatives who used most every question in the House to lambaste a separatist coalition, they should have used every question to label Mr. Harper a coward, a leader too scared to face the music, a leader who was indeed about to dip into Third World tactics - going beyond even his own dirty-tricks handbook - and shut down Parliament. They could have had him so embarrassed by week's end that he would have looked shameful in running off, tail between his legs, to Rideau Hall. But they don't know how to mount an attack. They stood there with their chins primed for clobbering - and got clobbered. The nightmare before Christmas ended up with them - not the prime minister who can't master his demons - at the top of the loser line-up.

happy berlated!

happy birthday! have a fun birthday weekend!

i saw allan rock at the rideau centre tonight.

ooo i loved the guitars at the end of impossible germany! when they were facing each other and playing the harmonies... that was awesome.

um hellooooo schwa?

i have heard it being referred to a coup. silly.

loved the show! that was my first wilco experience [i haven't really listened to them] and i liked it a lot. i forgot that they do california stars, that was a nice surprise for me. neil was excellent, as always! good mix of old and new. loved 'old man' in particular, not sure why that one stands out. we snuck out just before the end of 'day in the life' and had no problems. on the 417 a girl got in a big accident and smashed the front of her car to pieces just ahead of us so we stopped to check on her... we were pretty surprised that we were the only ones to stop! she was fine. anyway... please stop if you see me crash my car. great show

in!

cool! can you PM me your email address? the location of the seat is: Lower bowl, two sections from the stage.

hey LR, i know someone who is looking to get rid of his as he moved to alberta. it's not floor though. it is free. are you interested?

happy birthday to you!

happy birthday amigo

happy birthday birthday twin!

thanks people! i was struck with some serious november blahs today. this helps!

hey edger! i see what you mean and i think it's a good point. however, i think at the same time it's important to bring these kinds of 'heavy-hitters' to the table. to use chatham as an example again - my dad is doing a lot of work & research on bringing turbines to chatham-kent and it is being met with a lot of resistance. the really sad part is, there are some real nut-jobs at the city council meetings who actually have a lot of sway with chatham residents. example: one woman came to a council meeting and claimed that having too many wind turbines in one area would knock the earth off its axis. i shit you not. at a city council meeting. and this is a woman who has some kind of radio show, with listeners who believe things she says. maybe birdy knows who i'm talking about?? anyway, just wanting to point out that you want some big guns to effectively shut down the people who have no fucking clue what planet they're on. interesting topic!

this thread is funny.

thanks for that mike! i'm sure i can work these into my history class.

heheheh