[ShepherdsDog]

It could be a Space Balls type relationship(I'm your cousin's roommate's....yadda yadda yadda) and some would try and use it as an excuse

[Jonny_C]

Gunnair Gunnair:

Yogi Yogi:

I'm putting my money on a defense of " I was set up"!


Any takers???

I wonder if there is a Residential School connection? It's commonly brought up when natives out here get in trouble. Just saw it again the other day in a local assault story because someone's father or grandfather was in one.

Sickening.

There comes a time when you have to take responsibility for your own actions. Your early childhood doesn't make you some kind of a robot.

My father had a crappy upbringing, with step-father and abuse and the whole 9 yards, and he told himself I won't treat my children the same way... and he didn't.

Past history is a cop-out for the weak and/or lazy. I truly believe that.

[raydan]

ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:

It could be a Space Balls type relationship(I'm your cousin's roommate's....yadda yadda yadda) and some would try and use it as an excuse

Did you just yadda yadda sex?




Seinfeld reference...

[Public_Domain]

[DrCaleb]

Public_Domain Public_Domain:

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Zipperfish Zipperfish:

I think the laughing point here is that Harper is running into all this troubole with these senators that he said he'd never appoint.

I'm starting to think it's a clever ploy by Harper. Appoint a few yahoos to the Senate, wait for them to self implode and use the public backlash to abolish the Senate.

Would abolishing the Senate actually be a controversial move?

I didn't think anyone actually defended it.

I figured it was like the long-gun registry; no one really gave a damn for it anyway.

I've always been for a Triple E senate. I do give a damn about the senate, I just think they should be accountable to the citizens.

Without it, Parlament loses one more form of oversight.

[Jonny_C]

The senate, even if reformed to EEE, is far too bloody expensive for what it can do.

[DrCaleb]

Jonny_C Jonny_C:

The senate, even if reformed to EEE, is far too bloody expensive for what it can do.

How expensive would a power mad PM be, before they could be properly assasinated?
An equal representation, accountable Senate is far cheaper.

[PluggyRug]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Jonny_C Jonny_C:

The senate, even if reformed to EEE, is far too bloody expensive for what it can do.

power mad

Isn't that the first line in the job description.

[Lemmy]

The last thing Ottawa needs is more elected officials. Leave the senate as is or scrap it altogether.

[Jonny_C]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Jonny_C Jonny_C:

The senate, even if reformed to EEE, is far too bloody expensive for what it can do.

How expensive would a power mad PM be, before they could be properly assasinated?
An equal representation, accountable Senate is far cheaper.

I think you're putting too much faith in "the chamber of sober second thought".

When the Senate has a majority of members who are of the same party as the government, it's a rubber stamp. When the majority of members is of a different party, it's a forum for grandstanding and obstruction.

EEE isn't going to change that. Scrap the whole damn thing and save hundreds of millions of dollars.

[herbie]

The point OF having a EEE Senate was to provide a balance to Parliament. If they can't DO anything, there's no point in having a Senate at all.
And it sure sounds like everyone is being convinced the Senate does nothing, so somebody can either strip what little powers they have now and call it "reform" or scrap it altogether.
20 elected from BC
20 elected from the Prairies
20 elected from Ontario
20 elected from Quebec
20 elected from the Atlantic Provinces
1 from each Territory

With the power to amend, stop or send back a Bill. A 2/3 vote of Parliament to override the Senate.
That's EEE

[QBall]

herbie herbie:

The point OF having a EEE Senate was to provide a balance to Parliament. If they can't DO anything, there's no point in having a Senate at all.
And it sure sounds like everyone is being convinced the Senate does nothing, so somebody can either strip what little powers they have now and call it "reform" or scrap it altogether.
20 elected from BC
20 elected from the Prairies
20 elected from Ontario
20 elected from Quebec
20 elected from the Atlantic Provinces
1 from each Territory

With the power to amend, stop or send back a Bill. A 2/3 vote of Parliament to override the Senate.
That's EEE

Why would B.C., with 1/3 the population of Ontario and a little more than half the population of Quebec, have the same number of Senators as Ontario and Quebec in your scenario?

[DrCaleb]

QBall QBall:

herbie herbie:

The point OF having a EEE Senate was to provide a balance to Parliament. If they can't DO anything, there's no point in having a Senate at all.
And it sure sounds like everyone is being convinced the Senate does nothing, so somebody can either strip what little powers they have now and call it "reform" or scrap it altogether.
20 elected from BC
20 elected from the Prairies
20 elected from Ontario
20 elected from Quebec
20 elected from the Atlantic Provinces
1 from each Territory

With the power to amend, stop or send back a Bill. A 2/3 vote of Parliament to override the Senate.
That's EEE

Why would B.C., with 1/3 the population of Ontario and a little more than half the population of Quebec, have the same number of Senators as Ontario and Quebec in your scenario?

The Senate is not Representation by Population. It's always been an equal number from each region, that wasy it can't be biased toward any region the way Parliament can become.

[Jonny_C]

QBall QBall:

Why would B.C., with 1/3 the population of Ontario and a little more than half the population of Quebec, have the same number of Senators as Ontario and Quebec in your scenario?

Same idea as in the USA, where every state sends 2 senators to the senate, no matter the size of the state's population.

Anyway there is zero chance that this will ever happen.

[Jonny_C]

Some background as to why Brazeau was appointed to the Senate in the first place...

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/02/13 ... 75799.html

... and some interesting background to the dynamics of native issues.