In a move that could be viewed as self-preservation, certain senators postponed again the passing of a bill that would limit Senate terms to eight years.Stephane Dion supports term limitations for Senators. However, his plan would limit such Senate term limits to 12 years. This position by the Liberal Leader distances the new Liberal Party from certain mostly Liberal Senators who could be seen to be most concerned with their own career security given another bill proposing an elected senate that is on the table. Nevertheless, Dion's Liberals continue to oppose a separate Conservative bill proposing the election of senators.
In a bizarre and kind of ironic move, Stephen Harper intends to appoint his first so-called elected senator, Bert Brown, a Conservative, to replace retiring Liberal Senator Dan Hayes.
So let me get this straight: this is still a partisan move by Harper and it is still an appointment. The only difference is that Brown, a farmer from Kathyrn, Alta., once ploughed the message "Triple-E Senate or Else" into a barley field and was "elected" in a unilateral and un-recognised electoral process that has been taking place in Alberta since 1989. The first elected senator was appointed in 1990 by then-Progressive Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney. Mulroney appointed Stan Waters, the first elected Senate nominee in Canada.
Is this Stephen Harper's latest move to institutionalise conservatism in Canada? By again demonstrating a preference for optics over substance, Harper's government continues to be mostly about tactics and process manipulation. Could anyone tell me where or how this continuing 'dodgy' manoeuvring demonstrates any leadership by the current Prime Minister?
