Saturday, June 02, 2007

Also not leaders: Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick

Me thinks it's time for Devin' Steven to fire-up the attack ad machine. It's not only Liberal senators that are raising issues with Harper's half-assed Senate "reform" plan. The governments of Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick are all warning the Cons their plan is unconstitutional, and can't be done without provincial consent:

Ontario and Quebec have joined New Brunswick in contending that the Harper government cannot unilaterally tinker with the make-up of the so-called chamber of sober second thought.(more)
Among the other provinces that have weighed-in, Saskatchewan opposes the incremental approach to Senate reform and opposes the Con bill but still thinks it’s legal, while B.C. doesn’t seem to care all that much either way and would rather it be abolished. B.C. should care, as I’ve argued before B.C. stands to be one of the biggest losers in a piecemeal approach to Senate reform.

Which is why I’ve always argued if you’re going to reform the senate go all-out with constitutional talks and tackle everything from seat distribution to electing Senators to the balance of powers between the chambers. If you’re not going to go all the way, then leave it alone.

Anyway, since Decivin’ Steven produced attack ads to highlight Dion’s concerns with his half-asses Senate tinkering, with the spreading opposition perhaps it’s time for some more attack ads from the Cons. Particularly given that his old buddy Charest is going way further than Dion:
And Quebec is going further: Premier Jean Charest wants the federal government to withdraw Bill C-43, aimed at creating a process for electing senators. He also wants the government to suspend work on bill S-4, which would impose an eight-year limit on senatorial terms, until it gets provincial consent.
I can picture it now…
(Omnious music)
Jean Charest thinks we should follow the constitution.

He thinks Senate reform should be done in a legal and effective way.

He wants a Senate that is not only elected, but equal and effective. He so crazy!

Jean Charest is sooo not a leader.
But really, with three provinces now in revolt wouldn’t it seem the logical, not to mention sensible, thing to do to simply put this on hold and refer the legislation to the Supreme Court for an opinion on its constitutionality?

Steve as well wonders just what the heck Decivin’ Steven is up to, while Ted gets all lawyerly to address some of the pitfalls of the Con legislation.

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4 comments:

Warren said...

Real senate reform would be great, but just isn’t possible. Opening the constitution will be a nightmare the country might not be able to handle again. That said, Harper’s incremental senate reform is an equally bad, if not worse, idea.

It’s sad, but the status-quo remains the best option for the moment.

Oldschool said...

The status-quo is a monumental joke!!!!
Only "Progressives" would want it maintained . . . like say Larry C from BC who is now on the dole. This is welfare for the elites . . . get a brain folks!!!

burlivespipe said...

Or ol' Marjorie... but then again, she is toeing her boss' line about 'change for better, worse or worst!' Of course her only objection is that there aren't more Fortiers and fewer Romeo Delairds and Frank Mahovlichs. Quantity over quality, seems to be the CONs motto.

Feynman and Coulter's Love Child said...

Yeah, BC is certainly well served by its current system of having its Senators made up of "sober second thinkers" who throw hissy fits in committee meetings.

The "all at once or not at all" claptrap is just clever code for "the status quo does exactly what we want it to do for the exact reasons that sensible people want it changed". I see no alteration from that script here.