Coyne gives a refresher on Trudeaus 'Senate Reform'

[overthere]

Many people seem to be in some confusion about the government’s plan for the new independent, non-partisan Senate. Does it not suggest some confusion on the government’s part, they ask, that six months on it can neither explain nor defend the changes it has made — that, indeed, the Senate itself seems unsure how to proceed?

Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact the government’s Senate plan is simplicity itself, the clarity of its strategy exceeded only by the easy intelligibility of its design. If anyone should be having sober second thoughts, it’s the critics!

A quick refresher course. Senators are appointed to represent provinces, according to a very simple formula whereby each region gets 24 seats and each province that is not also a region gets six — except Prince Edward Island, of course, which gets four. Thus New Brunswick and Nova Scotia get 10 each, rather than six, to give Atlantic Canada the regulation 24, or 30 if we’re really going to count Newfoundland.

Under the old system, senators were simply appointed by the prime minister. Under the new system, they are appointed by the prime minister, on the advice of an Independent Advisory Board, all of whom were appointed by him. This obviously greatly enhances their legitimacy — for where previously they were appointed by an elected official, now they will be elected by appointed officials.

http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/andrew-coyne-still-confused-about-the-new-non-partisan-senate-heres-a-quick-refresher

Now that is the kind of bold transparency we can all get behind.

I had been wondering how Trudeau planned to ram through his 'Electoral Reform' initiative which as we all know will be a Ranked Ballot system. I thought that he'd have a stumbling block with the Senate, but this will fix all that trifling issue.

I'm willing to bet that the Liberal non partisan senators appointed by the Liberal non partisan appointment committee to vote for Trudeau Jr whatever is put in front of them will carefully consider all the legislative options.

[?Impact]

I agree with an appointment committee, but believe the respective provinces should have equal say in its makeup. The committee should be virtual, and convened on the appointment of Senators to represent the various provinces. I also think that the opposition parties should have some say in the makeup of the appointment committee, perhaps on some proportional basis. Trudeau has made a first step, now he needs to see it through.

[cybercoma]

Folks need to brush up on the "representative" part of representative democracy.

[Queenmandy85]

A better idea is to use the system set down in the BNA Act. Remove the Prime Minister and politicians from any input.

Edited May 7, 2016 by Queenmandy85

[waldo]

Now that is the kind of bold transparency we can all get behind.

is there a problem?... current makeup of the advisory board choosing and presenting candidates for the Senate:

chair: Huguette Labelle, former senior public servant, serving as deputy minister at Transport Canada, the Public Service Commission and the Canadian International Development Agency. Adviser to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's committee on integrity and anti-corruption. Appointed chancellor of University of Ottawa in 1994, a position she held until 2012. Holds honorary degrees from 12 Canadian universities and is a companion — the highest rank — of the Order of Canada.

members:

• Indira Samarasekera, federal member: she served as the president and vice-chancellor of the University of Alberta.

• Daniel Jutras, federal member: dean of law, professor, Wainwright Chair in Civil Law at the Faculty of Law, McGill University.

• Murray Segal, provincial member for Ontario: former Ontario deputy attorney general and Ontario deputy minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs.

• Dawn Lavell Harvard, provincial member for Ontario: president of the Native Women's Association of Canada.

• Sylvie Bernier, provincial member for Quebec: Olympic gold medalist, media contributor and "healthy lifestyle ambassador."

• Yves Lamontagne, provincial member for Quebec: psychiatrist.

• Susan Lewis: provincial member for Manitoba: worked for over 40 years with the United Way of Winnipeg, including as president from 1985 to 2014.

• Heather Bishop, provincial member for Manitoba: a musician/singer-songwriter, independent recording artist and entrepreneur.

.

[overthere]

current makeup of the advisory board choosing and presenting candidates for the Senate:

Lol.....a wonderfully representative group of Canadians, for sure. How many are associated with the Trudeau Foundation?

How many millions of our dollars does it take to simply appoint 25 compliant Liberal flunkies? One thing for sure, it won't take too long, Trudeau has an agenda and Labelle will have a strict timeline to rubber stamp his folks..

Oh right, 'transparency' and a pretense of consultation and then - by golly!- we get the same old same old: Liberal Senators that won't be called Liberals..

How proud you must be of Your Prince, Waldo.

[Argus]

is there a problem?... current makeup of the advisory board choosing and presenting candidates for the Senate:

Gee, knowing nothing about these people but what you write here, let's see if I can guess their political affiliation.

chair: Huguette Labelle,former senior public servant, serving as deputy minister at Transport Canada,

Francophone public servant? Liberal.

Indira Samarasekera], federal member: she served as the president and vice-chancellor of the University of Alberta.

Western university academic? Liberal.

Daniel Jutras, federal member: dean of law, professor, Wainwright Chair in Civil Law at the Faculty of Law, McGill University.

University academic, and lawyer from Quebec? Liberal.

Murray Segal,provincial member for Ontario: former Ontario deputy attorney general and Ontario deputy minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs.

Aboriginal affairs deputy minister in the Ontario government? Liberal.

Dawn Lavell Harvard,[/b] provincial member for Ontario: president of the Native Women's Association of Canada.

Native womens association in Ontario? Liberal or NDP

Sylvie Bernier, provincial member for Quebec: Olympic gold medalist, media contributor and "healthy lifestyle ambassador."

Francophone Quebecer and media type? Liberal.

Yves Lamontagne, provincial member for Quebec: psychiatrist.

Francophone Quebecer and shrink? Liberal or NDP.

Susan Lewis: provincial member for Manitoba: worked for over 40 years with the United Way of Winnipeg, including as president from 1985 to 2014.

United Way president? Liberal or NDP.

Heather Bishop,provincial member for Manitoba: a musician/singer-songwriter, independent recording artist and entrepreneur.

Singer songwriter? Liberal or NDP.

So of the eight, four are Quebecers, at least one is a visible minority, one is a native. And while we can't say with absolute certainty who these people voted for last election. We can be pretty certain there isn't one among them who doesn't rejoice in the title "progressive", and can be counted on to ensure that only like-minded people wind up in the senate.

Edited May 7, 2016 by Argus

[waldo]

Lol.....a wonderfully representative group of Canadians, for sure. How many are associated with the Trudeau Foundation?

given your implication, to you, what membership is lacking, presumably making it more representative in your view. Please try to be less overtly partisan than MLW member Argus and his clairvoyant party/voting/ideology labeling. Thanks in advance.

.

[Argus]

given your implication, to you, what membership is lacking, presumably making it more representative in your view. Please try to be less overtly partisan than MLW member Argus and his clairvoyant party/voting/ideology labeling. Thanks in advance.

.

You have some balls, Waldo, accusing ANYONE else of being overly partisan.

More representative? Gee, how about less Quebecers to start. Quebec holds 20% of the population. Why do they get 50% of the positions?

Want a representative group?

You have the following groups nominate someone from among their ranks.

Someone representing the small business community.

Someone representing the legal community

Someone representing the unionists.

Someone representing veterans

Someone representing corporate Canada

Someone representing the religious communities

Someone representing farmers

Someone representing fishermen

Someone representing taxpayers

Right now it looks like only 20% of the existing appointees are English and White. That should be about 70% to properly reflect Canada's real makeup.

[overthere]

So of the eight, four are Quebecers, at least one is a visible minority, one is a native. And while we can't say with absolute certainty who these people voted for last election. We can be pretty certain there isn't one among them who doesn't rejoice in the title "progressive", and can be counted on to ensure that only like-minded people wind up in the senate.

One of them, Heather Bishop, is representing the LGBTQ community. Her politics are far, far to the left of the NDP. Luckily for Justin, we know there won't be any NDP Senators.

Oops, sorry, there won't be any Liberals Senators either, just plain folks who are appointed by apponted Liberals, who will then briefly pretend to be nonpartisan, then vote as they are told to vote.

Now that is the kind of electoral reform that The Waldo can get behind! Transparency!

Edited May 8, 2016 by overthere

[waldo]

guys, guys... I be likin' it! The smallish government advocate calls for adding another dozen or so persons to the advisory board choosing and presenting candidates for the Senate... cause those Order of Canada types, those academic types, those wrong discipline PhD types, those native types, those visible minority types, those LGBTQ types, those medical specialist types, those lawyer types, those public-service types, those musician types, those media types, those Quebecers!!!... they're all the wrong types! And, apparently, principally Liberal (maybe a smattering of NDP) supporters. Oh my!

.

[Smoke]

Indira Samarasekera, wasn't she involved in scandal at the University of Alberta? Where the university paid for renovations to her home and then purchased her home giving her $180K profit? That one? Yeah sounds like a good choice....if you're a leftie.

[Argus]

guys, guys... I be likin' it!

Apparently you don't actually care if this panel is representative of Canada at all.

Edited May 8, 2016 by Argus

[waldo]

Indira Samarasekera, wasn't she involved in scandal at the University of Alberta? Where the university paid for renovations to her home and then purchased her home giving her $180K profit? That one? Yeah sounds like a good choice....if you're a leftie.

she's that 'visible minority' MLW member Argus highlighted... clearly not the right(ie) type, hey! Your rightie-self calls this a... scandal? Really?

Recently released financial figures show the University of Alberta's president Indira Samarasekera sold her house last year to the university for $930,000 as part of her contract negotiations.

"By having it set up in this structure, the university has a very strategic advantage of owning a house for their president, which is really, really beneficial when you're recruiting a president," said Brian Heidecker, chair of the university's board of governors.

The board of governors defends the renovations, but Heidecker could not provide CTV News with the final cost of the updating the home. He says it was a small part of the university's maintenance budget needed to keep buildings from deteriorating.

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[waldo]

Apparently you don't actually care if this panel is representative of Canada at all.

granted, I do lack you keen ability to simply look at a person's name... even glance further at their bio... and categorically just know they're either a Liberal or NDP supporter. It's a shame there are, apparently, no Conservative Order of Canada types, no Conservative academic types, no Conservative PhD types (of the right persuasion), no Conservative native types, no Conservative visible minority types, no Conservative LGBTQ types, no Conservative medical specialist types, no Conservative lawyer types, no Conservative public-service types, no Conservative musician types, no Conservative media types, no Conservative Quebecers!!!

.

[?Impact]

Indira Samarasekera, wasn't she involved in scandal at the University of Alberta? Where the university paid for renovations to her home and then purchased her home giving her $180K profit? That one? Yeah sounds like a good choice....if you're a leftie.

$180k profit? So you are suggesting that the house she bought, and the university decided to make an official residence several years later, did not increase in value like the rest of property in the country during the intervening years. You are suggesting she take a $180k loss, just to satisfy your rightie sensibilities?

[Argus]

granted, I do lack you keen ability to simply look at a person's name... even glance further at their bio... and categorically just know they're either a Liberal or NDP supporter.

I guess you're just not as smart as me.

[waldo]

I guess you're just not as smart as me.

is your presumed profiling... smart?

.

[Argus]

is your presumed profiling... smart?

.

Do you think any of those listed are in any way, shape or form, conservative?

Do you deny that they fail to properly represent the broad spectrum of the Canadian population?

[waldo]

Do you think any of those listed are in any way, shape or form, conservative?

as I said, I do lack you keen ability to simply look at a person's name... even glance further at their bio... and categorically just know they're either a Liberal or NDP supporter..... the same applies to C-conservative party and ideology.

.

Do you deny that they fail to properly represent the broad spectrum of the Canadian population?

do you posit there are no C-conservative Order of Canada types, no C-conservative academic types, no C-conservative PhD types (of the right persuasion), no C-conservative native types, no C-conservative visible minority types, no C-conservative LGBTQ types, no C-conservative medical specialist types, no C-conservative lawyer types, no C-conservative public-service types, no C-conservative musician types, no C-conservative media types, no C-conservative Quebecers?

.

[Argus]

as I said, I do lack you keen ability to simply look at a person's name... even glance further at their bio... and categorically just know they're either a Liberal or NDP supporter..... the same applies to C-conservative party and ideology.

That's a politician's non-answer.

[andromeda]

http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/andrew-coyne-still-confused-about-the-new-non-partisan-senate-heres-a-quick-refresher

Now that is the kind of bold transparency we can all get behind.

I had been wondering how Trudeau planned to ram through his 'Electoral Reform' initiative which as we all know will be a Ranked Ballot system. I thought that he'd have a stumbling block with the Senate, but this will fix all that trifling issue.

I'm willing to bet that the Liberal non partisan senators appointed by the Liberal non partisan appointment committee to vote for Trudeau Jr whatever is put in front of them will carefully consider all the legislative options.

it's like painting lipstick on a pig. with trudeau it's all optics. it's giving the impression that the selection of senators has now become more 'open' or democratic (which it's not). it's no better or worse except that if a senator screws up the appointment committee takes the fall and not the government.

[poochy]

Apparently you don't actually care if this panel is representative of Canada at all.

Just another day.

[Smallc]

Don't the provinces that decide to participate get to pick 2/5 of the members when it comes to selecting senators for their province?

[PIK]

Trudeau is everything the media said harper was when he first arrived. The hidden agenda has finally risen up.