Triple-E Senate
September 8th, 2006 | by MadHacktress |Egoists, Elitists, Eccentrics.
I think that’s right, no?
Stephan Harper’s little trip today - his oh-so-awesomely-unprecidented, never-before-seen, shockingly, camera-worthy appearance - at the Senate committee on Senate Reform was a political laugh. That he felt that the fire and brimstone approach to a Liberal-heavy Senate would be effective is, well, funny.
“Political Consequences,” he said, would come if the Senate blocked the passage of his reform package because of the population’s support of the notion. What political consequences there are for senators who are appointed and serve out their term until age 75, I am not sure. I guess he probably meant that the Liberal Party would feel the consequences during the next election. Pshaw.
I am a proponent of Senate reform. I like the idea of a Triple-E Senate - I don’t like the idea of using the bettering of our political system for political posturing. I don’t like the idea of politicians politicking on Senate reform. These men and women, the senators who sit in our Senate, serve at the pleasure of our Sovereign. They serve this nation in their capacity. They were asked to perform a duty to the nation by the Queen on the advice of the nation’s then-Prime Minister.
Whether they are liberal or conservative appointees is notwithstanding their job. They are the sober second thought. It is their job to carefully consider bills that come to them and to give, well, the sober second thought. Encouraging the Senate to do their job and then threatening them that if they do not do your bidding there will be consequences is… odd.
That is the one big thing that really has irked me about this Canada’s New Government. They’re hypocritcal. It irks me that they do not given the Canadian public the credit to be able to see through so thinly veiled tactics. It’s the same thing that the American body politick does to their public and I just don’t get how Americans don’t see through it.
I hold Canadians to a higher standard. I expect that our public is bright enough to see that these politicians are playing, well, political games.
Our Senate needs to be elected, effective and equal. The rubber-stamping needs to stop. I firmly believe in the bicameral system and the sober second thought, but it needs to actually be exercised. The Senate we have now can be two-out-of-three without reform. Less rubber-stamping, more careful consideration and action and the Senate will make itself equal and effective.
The Harper government’s idea of setting terms for the service of senators is a necessary step. In order for the senators to be elected, they need to have terms set out for them. The eight-year option sounds like a good idea. Replace half of the Senate every four years and that would be perfect.
The next concern is election. I look forward to seeing what the Harper government has in store for elections. I worry that the so-called “National” outlook for his election idea may favour the West more than the rest of the country (since they’re more gung-ho for voting for Senators then, perhaps, they will come out in greater force?). We’ll see, I don’t want to be negative, yet.
Entry Filed under: In The News, Pure Opinion
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