"I can't believe that the Prime Minister is just literally giving Canadians the finger."
For someone who was all about making the Senate more fair, representative and elected, this is an odd way to suddenly deal with the Senate.
OTTAWA–Constitutional experts and opposition parties yesterday
condemned Prime Minister Stephen Harper's plan to fill every empty
Senate seat in advance of his government's possible defeat in the new
year.
Constitutional scholar Desmond Morton called the move a
scandal in view of the precarious position of Harper's minority
government.
"He has the power to do it, but he shouldn't have the gall," said Morton, a professor emeritus at McGill University.
"I
think it's more in keeping with the principles of parliamentary
democracy that a potentially lame-duck administration should not make
appointments," said constitutional scholar Ned Franks.
Harper
will name the new senators before Christmas – likely in one fell swoop
– in a move his office says will bolster the chances of eventual Senate
reform, but opposition critics called a hyper-partisan power grab.
"It's
outrageous," said New Democrat MP and reform critic David
Christopherson (Hamilton Centre), whose party advocates abolishing the
Senate. "I can't believe that the Prime Minister is just literally
giving Canadians the finger."
Read more of the article at the link above.
2 comments:
Quote: "He has the power to do it ..."
End of story. Unless, of course, you are saying that the actions of Liberals from (at least) Turner through to Martin are illegal, too, since they have done the same?
No, I thought not.
I didn't agree with previous Liberal PMs stuffing the Senate in an un-ethical way either. It still isn't right.
However, in this instance, Harper hasn't even let parliament sit since the election, AND, he has lost the confidence of the House and he wants to stuff the Senate with 18 appointments.
Harper previously campaigned against acting like this in the past. A bit hypocritical on his part, don't you think?
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