jennie

There is no new press theatre? How do you know for sure?

Is it really his right to so tightly control what we are allowed to hear? I don't think so.

I agree with coot.

'Elected' whether Senate or HoC means the person is beholden to their constituents. They will NOT do make any unpopular decisions. The way the system is now, they are beholden to no one and can consider important issues that may not be popular. I have yet to see anyone present any evidence of shortcomings of the Senate. What I am reading is conjecture and opinion with no basis in fact. We all know Harper wants to control the Senate, for his own ends. Are you all going to just 'do for the master', or are you going to investigate it yourself, find some facts about what the Senate does and how, and think independently to come to you own conclusion? One sick Senator is hardly a good reason to destroy the balance in our democracy.

Why do you think it should be changed, Higgly? I think that would be pretty similar to what we have now. I have not yet heard a good argument as to why we should change it.

HUNH?? The Party leader is elected by the party. The Prime Minister is voted in by the people. You must be only in Grade 9, because you obviously have not yet taken mandatory Gr 10 Civics.

YUP! It was raining.

I really don't understand why people think it needs to be changed. Obviously Harper is trying to circumvent the checks and balances of democracy. How is this desirable? I think from some of the posts here, the problem is that people do not understand the Senate as it now exists. Harper is taking advantage of that lack of knowledge. We can only protect our democratic rights if we make our own informed decisions, not by following the self-serving wishes of the politicians. They do not look out for our best interests, only their own. However, they will try to sell it as if they are doing it for us. Don't be taken in. I think Canadians need to hear directly from the Senators on this topic, first to educate us about what they do. And I want to correct the misperception that Senators are there until they die: They are there until age 75, unless they die before that. And btw, I would like to address the issue of the Senator found to be living somewhere in the sunny south, and not attending the Senate but still being paid, BECAUSE I feel this issue has been used as a political football to discredit the Senate in order to make this takeover more palatable to us ... the dumbed down masses. 1) The man was ill and close to 75, as I recall. 2) Many people have sick days or disability programs that are topped up to full salary. Thus, there is absolutely no reason for this to be usedf to bias people's perceptions. It is perhaps important to reflect on the fact that the mainstream media broke the story, and the msm implements a corporate agenda which would include destroying our critical democratic balances in order to further their own agenda of greed. imo. I also have an opinion as to 'why now': Canada's economy and corporate profits are largely dependent on the resource industries - mainly logging and mining. However, the loggers and miners are now smack dab up against aboriginal land rights and the laws are such that the courts can and do shut down industries to respect legal aboriginal rights. This is a HUGE threat to the corporations who intend to suck every la$t re$ource out of Canada and leave the land as dead as a doornail. They don't care about the environment, nor about our human lives that depend on the environment. Indigenous Peoples have understood for milennia what we are just coming to realize: The earth is a living thing. If we pave the surface, it can't breathe, and the toxins kill all life in the earth. If we steal the minerals, it can't cleanse itself of toxins. If we contaminate the water, all the land and animals and people it touches become ill or die and the water can no longer sustain life. If we clearcut all the trees, the air cannot cleanse itself and it cannot sustain life. What does this have to do with the Senate? Because if we allow political and corporate greed to destroy our democratic checks and balances, we will not be able to sustain human life. Democracy is not about our government telling us what is best for us: It is about us telling our governments what is best for us. Canadians have largely abdicated their democratic responsibilities to inform themselves, with the result that right now our democracy is very vulnerable.

easychair, Our American brothers and sisters are most welcome here. There is almost universal disrespect (putting it mildly) for George Bush here, but if you can handle that you are in! Best of luck!

I feel the same about all churches. They are all fighting over who 'owns' God and thus is 'superior'. Religion is a plot to dumb down the masses.

Yes there is. They think only THEY know god. That is ridiculous and they place themselves above others. I have no patience for organized religion. It is used as a tool to silence the 'masses' and keep them fighting with each other so they don't notice their precious church has been co-opted and they are being scammed by the 'moneychangers' whom we now call the 'multinationals'.

Agreed. Harper is certainly confirming the concerns of those who fear his single-minded quest for absolute authority over Canadians. Scary scary stuff, imo!

Really? I think that is disgusting supremacism and smacks of snakeoil salesmen to me. Disgustingly rude. Why can't people of faith just have the common decency to keep it to themselves ... hmm? If it makes their lives so wonderful, that shouldn't be difficult.

The views expressed by the main poster on this thread do not represent the views of anyone but himself.

This is just more friggen US bull headed stupidity, that will put our soldiers in danger!!! Can you imagine the backlash against the spraying? And who is there to take the flak? Canadian soldiers.

Well, if you are slinging insults, then you must believe you are qualified to do so: Now, I don't know much about Mohammad....but from the few articles I've read, his background was actually not impressive. They're talking mass murders and massacres, among other things. If you don't understand how that is an insult, just change Mohammed to Christ and see how it reads to you.

I am not in favour of an elected Senate, as that removes one of the critical checks and balances in our system. That is, of course, what Harper wants to do: remove the checks and balances so he can be a despot even with support of only a minority of Canadians. There are certain issues that our short term politically beholden MP's are simply not equipped for or willing to handle. We need a stable body to deal with the important long term in depth issues that don't do well in the political fray. The Senate is constructed to address these types of issues because it is stable over the long term. Although politically appointed, they are not as beholden to political whims and despots as the House of Commons. They have a quasi-judicial independence rather like academic freedom and the Senate can and does address necessary but politically unpopular issues. This year, for example, the Senate released a report about Specific Land Claims called Negotiation or Confrontation? It's Canada's Choice. The report has been instrumental in supporting the demands for reform to the claims system. There would NEVER in a million years be a negative report produced with a name like that nor those recommendations from a solely elected Senate, nor from the House of Commons. Certainly not during a possible election year, and likely never. One other point: Due to the manner in which they are appointed and their term (to 75 years of age), the Senate seats do not 'turnover' in every election like the House of Commons. Consequently, they are protected from the vagaries of political whims and in fact, more accurately reflect the choices in governments of the Canadian people over time, rather than at a single point in time. Again, this stability in our Senate is an important balance to the political winds of the House, and those are the checks and balances within the system as designed. That may be good for Harper and the corporations to continue to plunder Canada's resources despite environmental devastation, but it is BAD BAD BAD for Canadian people, imo. Before people jump on this bandwagon, I suggest you find out why the Senate is constructed as it is, and what checks and balances it provides to our system. The foundation of successful democracy is an informed citizenry who can keep government power mongers in check. If we jump on every political bandwagon, we are only contributing to someone elses political power over us. Make no mistake: If the politicians are pushing it, it is because they stand to gain, not us.

An insult is something that someone perceives as an insult. Your opinion is irrelevant. What they prefer to be called is up to them, and they prefer not to be labelled with some 500 year old explorer's stupid mistake, li'l jeffie! Why would I call you Indian? Are you?

So why do you still use the old testament? Yes, it is obvious you don't know much about Mohammed, and yet you think you are 'qualified' to sling insults about him and the religion and all of the Muslim people?

Yes it is.

As I recall, Christ didn't practice Old Testament Christianity either, and certainly made a few changes to the Bible too! do you consider him a scammer as you painted Mohammed?

Scott, we are still waiting for your riding by riding election results!! Perhaps you should hold off on this next 'information project' until you finish one.

Angus, I am old enough not to give a flying fig what you think, in the grand scheme of things. I am old enough to know better than to go chasing around after evidence that you don't really want to see anyway. I am old enough that I don't answer to anyone, nor do I justify myself to people who prefer their own misperceptions anyway. And I believe that writing a long diatribe as you have against another poster is certainly lacking in class, and also against the rules, perhaps? I am repeating myself here for your benefit, to answer your one intelligent question: Graves are dug up when there is an investigation. There has never been an official investigation of deaths in the residential schools, though the Federal Government's Truth and Reconciliation Commission reports that it is doing one now. The evidence is easily available to anyone truly interested in knowing the truth. This documentary film is also easily available and I found it quite spellbinding. http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-66...epentant&to I will be interested in your opinion of the 'evidence' presented in the film.

Please explain how?

Actually he is simply, politely informing people of a social faux pas. Indigenous Peoples have a name for white folks that might be appropriate here: I can't spell it, but it means 'ghost people' or 'people of no substance, no humanity'. It hails back to the days - actually over 100 years - when white people just ignored the agony of the Indigenous Peoples as they were herded onto reserves and into schools, and oppressed and abused beyond belief. The white people passed by it all like ghosts, without acknowledging and "without a shred of humanity".