Archive for: November 2007

Get really ready, because it’s starting to look like a political version of the perfect storm is brewing. And this particular front seems to be forming directly above the red chamber of Parliament.

Many interesting things, they have been a-happenin’ in far away Ottawa lately. The Smirkin’ gherkin showed that even a blind squirrel can find a nut at times by actually hopping on the bandwagon and taking a few swings at a drum that conservatives, both “big C” and “little C” have been banging away at for as long as I can remember: the time has come for the undemocratic Canadian Senate to face either reform or abolition:

OTTAWA – The Harper government will re-introduce legislation Tuesday aimed at reforming the Senate.

At the same time, the NDP plans to introduce a motion in the Commons calling for a referendum to abolish the upper chamber. The New Democrat motion would see the plebicite held at the same time as next federal election. Opposition motions – especially from the New Democrats – rarely hold any political strength in Ottawa.

But Prime Minister Stephen Harper has indicated he supports the referendum proposal – if only as a pathway to reforming the red chamber.

The Conservative measures being introduced Tuesday, which failed to pass in the last session of Parliament, would introduce provincial elections for Senate nominees, and shorten the terms of senators.

Harper has made it clear recently he wants the Senate changed one way or another.

He was recently quoted saying “if it can’t be reformed . . . it will have to be abolished.”

HMPM Harper has — as anyone with two brain cells to rub together knows — long been an advocate for reform for the upper chamber, which the Librano$ have used for years as their own personal failsafe against un-HypoGritical legislation becoming law in the event that John Q. Canuck should turf their sorry arses from government.

Basically, they get to sit back and say, “We lost the election? So what? We control the Senate, so anything we don’t like doesn’t get passed, and there’s not a damned thing the unwashed masses can do about it.” This is why the Librano$ always howl so loudly whenever someone brings up the subject of Senate reform: it threatens their stranglehold on political power. And if there’s one thing that Liberals actually do believe in, it’s “get power at all costs, keep power at all costs.” And to hell with the will of ignorant clods (AKA voters) like you and me. After all, it’s not like there’s any way to get rid of a shiftless Senator who’s loyalties are to the party and not to the people he or she is supposedly representing.

But the time for all that to change just might, finally, have arrived. I know that we’ve all been down this particular road before (one time too many, it seems sometimes) but this time things just might be different. And we might be in for an election sooner than we thought. Most folks assume that it’s no secret that HMPM Harper wants a majority government and this could be the perfect time to get one.

Now, before somebody accuses me of going off half-cocked about speculating on an election — or “premature electulation,” as it’s been called (you know who you are) — bear in mind that there are several reasons why I think this:

1. Harper has made no secret that he doesn’t like the crony-infested Senate and the way the Liebrals have used it to confound the will of the people for years. Opponents have accused him of wanting to fight an election on the backs of the Senate. That might not be such a bad idea…
   

   But, given the option of improving the existing Senate, a majority of Canadians (52 per cent) said they would favour reforms that would “make it, for instance, an elected body,” while 24 per cent said they would still prefer it be done away with completely. Only 16 per cent said they would want to keep the red chamber “as it is” today.

   The fact of the matter is that ordinary Canadians are getting sick and God damned tired of these high-falootin’ trufflesnufflers and are just about ready to say “our way or the highway.”

2. The fact that even the damned NDP are agreeing with the Tories on the need for the upper chamber to unf*ck itself should belie any claims of this being a “far-right agenda”-driven cause. There’s a lot of things you can call the NDP (trust me, I know; I’ve used most of ’em) but “right-of-centre” ain’t one of them.
3. Stephane Dion. ’nuff said.
4. The PM’s principled stands on so many issues are finally starting to make a serious impression on the Canadian public, with his personal popularity (which we were always told was the Tories’ biggest liability) on a rise that few other sitting PMs have experienced.

So where the hell do I think all this is going to lead? Here’s my prediction: It’s gonna hit the fan.

I have to admit that I’m a bit, erm… befuddled by this. Not a sensation that I’m used to, by any means. I know that I’m a little behind on shooting my mouth off about this, but the utter silence that seems to be going on in the conservative (both big and little “C”) blogosphere on this one has me scratching my head a bit…

Okay, I lied. It’s more than a bit; I’m in full “WTF???” mode.

Maybe it’s because we’ve been ground down by having too many carrots dangled in the past, not a God damned one of which we got a bite out of. Maybe we’ve just given up even though, in our hearts of hearts, we know that this really is the good fight. Whatever the reason, It just doesn’t seem to be creating much of a stir at all:

OTTAWA — NDP Leader Jack Layton has won the backing of the prime minister to hold a nation-wide referendum on the abolition of the unelected Senate, CTV News has learned.

Insiders say Stephen Harper is prepared to support an NDP motion that would call for a national referendum on Senate abolition at the time of the next general election that is set for October 2009.

Sources also say Layton and Harper have held private discussions about Layton’s proposal in recent days.

Tory insiders say the prime minister will have the Conservatives vote for the NDP motion that could be tabled in the Commons as early as next Tuesday.

The NDP referendum plan is similar to an idea floated by Conservative Senator Hugh Segal.

Yeah, that’s right; the Tories and the Dippers are actually agreeing on something! Gonna have to mark my calendar now. Here we have two political parties that are the ideological equivalent of a snake and a mongoose (make up your own minds who’s who) and they’re both singing from the same song sheet. You’d think this would be a no-brainer, that it would sail through the Commons (Dion wouldn’t dare oppose it; even he’s smart enough to know that such a thing would be the political equivalent of putting a loaded shotgun in his mouth) and be on its way to the ballot right quick.

Wrong.

There’s a fly in the ointment. It’s called the Senate:

A constitutional expert says Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s support of the NDP plan to hold a nationwide referendum on abolition of the unelected Senate is likely little more than political posturing.

Errol Mendes, a constitutional law professor at the University of Ottawa, told CTV News that Layton and Harper “know this will not get through the Senate.”

And really, why should that surprise anybody? The Senate is dominated by the Librano$. They see it as their personal little failsafe in case they get turfed from office by the unwashed masses. No matter what the people have to say about anything, if the HypoGrits don’t like it, it doesn’t pass the Senate and to hell with the wishes of John Q. Canuck and his democratically elected representatives in the Lower House.

The Grit senators will fight this tooth and nail. Sure, they’ll puke up all kinds of bullshit about how they’re protecting Canadian interests but the fact of the matter is that the only thing they’re protecting is their own self interest!

Perhaps somebody should give these bastards a history lesson.

The Magna Carta is the forefather document of every western democracy. The tyrant King John — the arrogant sonofabitch who had the gall to declare that “the law is in my mouth” — was forced to sign that document. At spearpoint. He was basically told, “Sign it, asshole. If you don’t, we put that whole ‘divine right of kings’ thing to the test right here. You’ll be the guinea pig.”

He signed it, under threat of death. Does that somehow invalidate the Magna Carta? I don’t think so. There’s some seriously scary shit down that road.

Which brings us back to the Canadian Senate. Like the tyrant John, they will have an opportunity to give up the power that they have and put it where it belongs: in the hands of the people. Like that tyrant, they have an alternative. The questions is: what is that alternative?

A thousand years ago, the alternative was a spear. What do we need to point at these bastards’ heads?

Get your MSM bits on this here, here, here and here.