Senate appointments today?

One more Senate vacancy opened up this morning because long-time Liberal senator Jerry Grafstein turned 75 yesterday. That means that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has five vacancies to fill, and in so doing, he would boost the Conservatives' numbers to 51 seats in the Senate, compared to 49 for the Liberals.

 There's also another interesting statistic at work here. When he does name the five  new Conservative senators, Harper will have more appointees sitting in the red chamber than Chretien appointees. That's right. There will be 33 appointed senators from Harper; 32 from Jean Chretien. Now, it should be noted that Chretien tended to appoint people in their late 60s and early 70s, so they would only serve a few years before mandatory retirement, and therefore, many of Chretien's senators have come and gone. 

 Nonetheless, it means that in two important ways, the red chamber is on its way to becoming blue.

Comments

[wascally wabbit]

The height of irony!
The politician who - more than anyone this century - has shown disdain for the institution - making more appointments than anyone else!
Still - it supports the image I have of him - continuing to say one thing and doing another.
I think (I hope) this time - he has gone a step too far!

[geo]

This is the beginning of the end of Liberal dominance in the Senate.

Harper has offered the provinces the right to elect their own senators and with the exception of Alberta,none have bothered to follow through.

After years of the Liberals and the Liberal lead senate refusing to begin reforming that institution,we will begin to see senate reform happening from the inside out.

Not only reform, but advancing the passage of bills that have been stalled from becoming law because of the Liberal senators refusing to pass them.

Harper's plan has always been to reform the Senate and if doing it by appointing senators to get a Conservative majority is the way,then I applaud him for doing so.

Finally Canadians will get a foot forward in the Senate......and maybe the beginning of a major reforming of this presently useless institution.

[MyThought]

Harper - does't mean what he says and doesn't say what he means.

Another joke - filling the senate, which is expensive, when we're in economic hard times. Your taxpayer money at work.

Pathetic.

[MaryM]

Well, after all these years of having the senate dominated by the Liberal's, it is time for a change. The Liberals still feel like they are entitled to their entitlements.
They have had control in the HoC and the Senate that they just can not figure out how this happened. Simple: It's is long over due for a change!
Don't tell me that if the Liberal's had the opportunity that they would not do the same thing to keep control.
Prime Minister Harper would look like a fool to his party if he did not fill these vacancies.

[jojo banana]

Thanks for the un-biased reporting Ms. Delacourt. Chretien appointed 75 Senators during his 10-year reign. Harper has a way to go to match that total.

[P Ross]

I wonder why we have a Governor General? All she ever does is agree with the requests of Prime Minister Harper. The role to my understanding is to be non-partisan, to keep balance and perspective between the parties in the House of Commons. This is not happening.

[twitter.com/TwainShallMeet]

There is a recent and huge shift in the way Harper is being viewed by Canadians, and the talk on the Internet is now about maintaining the Outrage generated by the Colvin Affair. Harper knows this and is hoping that he can have a strangle hold on the Senate before he is required to re-visit Parliament Hill.

One such embodiment of this effort to maintain the bad taste left in Canadian's mouths by his un-democratic means is the sudden appearance of several new and openly anti-Harper sites on Face-book ( I counted 5 new ones this weekend ) There are also a plethora of New Petitions circulating on the web aimed at letting Canada know what it's Citizens think about his 'Cut and Run' tactics of last week.

The Senate issue can only add to the flames, as there are few who believe he is not "just in it for himself". (and possibly big oil)

One such Petition which is written in simple but unequivocal language can easily be found at:

http://bit.ly/Citz4Dem Check it out.

[Anonymous]

A 51-49 split doesn't necessarily give Harper a majority. There are five independent Senators who would have to agree to a Committee reconstitution, I think, and quite a few appointed by Mulroney in the Tory caucus who are not likely to be pushovers on any given vote.

[Patrick]

MaryM- I didn't vote for Stephen Harper so maybe you can explain why those who did just seem to ignore the fact that he continually breaks his promises?

Stephen Harper might "look like a fool" to his party, but it was more than Conservative hardline supporters who made him PM. At the rate he is turning off average voters he may well regret his willingness to break faith with what he says for what he does.

[Big Bad]

It is perfectly legitimate for any Prime Minister under our system of government to fill vacant Senate appointments. In our legislatures, House and Senate, committees are dominated by the parties with the most seats. Right now the House of Commons' committees are dominated by the more numerous opposition parties - in fact, the committees tend to run roughshod over the government, something that seldom happens when there is a majority government.
The Liberal's majority in the Senate has spent the last four years blocking and gutting legislation from the Commons. Now, the Senate will reflect the plurality given to the Conservatives. Who knows? Maybe we will actually see Senate reform come out of this change.

[BronwynMaye]

Any Senate observer will tell you that Senator Grafstein was truly one of the hardest working Senators. The sheer number of issues he tried to address by introducing bills was staggering. I couldn't say how effective his approach was necessarily, but he sure seemed to try hard!

[Nola]

Lib'rals are Red
Senate is Blue
Lib'rals are Dead
Whatever they Do

[Grandma]

Way to go Harper....he will accomplish from within what he could not from without, and as a minority government to boot. That is why he is so 'scary' to the Oppositions...Now the mantra is 'undemocratic'. When was the Senate ever Democratic? They quickly voted themselves unlimited travel expenses...yes, time for reform of our illustrious institutions of graft, greed and redundancy. That was the Liberal way...

[MyThought]

How can reporting the number of senators Harper is to appoint be biased? That doesn't even make sense.

We could save a lot of money (election costs) and senators who answer to their political party (which they're not supposed to) and have a senate consisting of only independants.

Money saved, partisanship removed and save from elections 24/7.

[I'll turn this country around...]

Senators have a job to do. When they do it, they are accused of "stalling." What about all the Conservative bills that have now died because of this prorogation? Conservatives just wasted all that time, only to scrap their own legislation, and they talk about the Senate stalling progress?

Harper is counting on naivety, cynicism and ignorance to stay in power. Anyone not wearing their partisan stripes can do the math. It's time to take our concerns to our MPs, to the media and to the streets. If Canadians don't express their disappointment, we'll deserve what we get.

[Moki]

This is such good humour when the senate was stacked with Lieberals everything was ok with those that voted for them now that the tide is turning they are so totally upset...

Ironic isn't it especially now that every senator that Harper has appointed has sworn that they are for senate reform/elected senate.

Good on you Harper for getting the job done now lets finish it by either getting these senators elected or by abolishing the senate completely saving all of us tax payers even more... :)

[Gabby in QC]

"The politician who - more than anyone this century - has shown disdain for the institution - making more appointments than anyone else! ..."
As is often the case, W. Wabbit, you present some “facts” without backing them up. I forgive you, though, because you covered yourself this time by saying “this century” …
For your edification, here's a list of the number of appointments made by all our PMs:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Canadian_Senate_appointments_by_Prime_Minister
King leads with 103 senators appointed during his tenure; as already pointed out by Jojo Banana ;-) Chretien appointed 75; and Trudeau appointed 81. True, those appointments did not take place in “this century.”

Furthermore, as I've posted here and elsewhere when there was another hue & cry about the last set of appointments, Liberal Senator Wilfrid Moore introduced bill S-224 to compel the sitting PM to fill senate vacancies within a specified time limit so that senate committees could go about their business. The PM has complied with those recommendations. How undemocratic is that, eh?

[Tripper523]

I don't see a problem here. It's just a sequence of dissolution, as the Senate will function for the short-term in a behaviourly positive way to enact legislation which traditionally is held up. The PM is carrying on responsibly to remove the obstacles to achieve this much. From there, it's "reformation time", the next phase in this surplus governmental body's devolution to the way of the dodo.

[Cari]

There are some independent and lots of PCs, so one never knows. Martin, by the way appointed, both Liberals and PCs

[Platty]

I'll turn this country around... wrote

========================================================

"Appointing senators takes a lot of courage especially when the choice is limited to the likes of Mike Duffy who slipped in through the opening Harper made as he spread eagled himself in front of the big fella. I'm sure he will try to be a bit more conservative this time around and keep his limbs closer together."

=======================================================

And you allow this kind of commenting Ms. Delacourt?

I see you take your lead on what is appropriate from the Liberal.ca website.

=

[simon]

So why the big fuss some of you ?
Mr Harper has really only shut down HoC for 2 weeks...do the math.
I see no rules having been broken...the integrity of the House died a Romper Room death years ago.
Senate reform has been on the table for years.
McGuinty/Charest have shown that petty politicians know no shame when it comes to grandstanding on the international stage.
The Olympics cost big $$ and petty politicians looking for fifteen minutes are a dime a dozen.
The solution for the House is to democratically vote the gov't out in March and take it to the electorate.

Your problem once again please?

[hollinm]

Thank goodness the Libs can no longer play parliamentary games by supporing legislation in the House and then using their Senate majority, to delay, obstruct or completely destroy legislation proposed by the House. No more Liberal games. Harper will have a de facto majority in both the House and Senate and therefore he doesn't need an election as some have speculated. It is up to the Professor to decide if he wants to return to Harvard in March. Force an election and head back to academia quicker than we can say Just Visiting.

[Fred miller]

What another Senate appointment, well there goes my money for Christmas gifts for the family next year,and the next, well like our government say's "the money is better in our pockets than the people,because they'd be spending it foolishly anyway, such as food, shelter,clothing etc,etc.

[Fred miller]

Well people there are two train of thoughts on the Canadian government and their actions being "The people have the government they deserve","Money is the mother's milk of politics",

[Gabby in QC]

Tsk, tsk! Here I go, having to repeat myself again ... please forgive me ...
"... What about all the Conservative bills that have now died because of this prorogation? ..."

Those bills have not necessarily died.
Go to this site: http://www.parl.gc.ca/compendium/web-content/c_g_parliamentarycycle-e.htm under “Prorogation of Parliament." There you will find this info:
"… Government bills that have not received Royal Assent prior to prorogation can be reinstated in the next session only if the House takes a decision to this effect. ...”
If Bob Rae and all other opposition MPs are so concerned about “all that work going to waste,” I’m sure he and his colleagues will be more than ready to consent to a motion reinstating all those bills at the point they had reached prior to prorogation, if the government decides to reinstate them as is.
At the same site, under “Detailed Article”:
”In order for government bills to be proceeded with in a new session, they must be reintroduced as new bills or they may be reinstated, if the House agrees to this.
… Committee work may also be revived either by motion in the House, or in committee, depending upon the nature of the study.”
See? Everything is working and can keep on working.

[Patrick]

Simon, you need to check your math.

Stephen Harper did not just shut down the House of Commons for two weeks. By proroguing, he cancelled all committees that were meeting; coincedently one of them being the committee looking into the abuse of Afghan detainees.

As well, all Bills that had been debated and moved along but not yet passed, all die on the order paper. What a waste of time.

Stephen Harper wastes taxpayers money.

Congratulations on your confidence in your knowledge but it is faulty to say the least.

[Moosecall]

There is one point the hard right wing won't let out.

There ARE STILL what the hard right would call "The evil Conservatives".

They're the ones who came before Stephen Harper, who were with the Progressive Conservatives, who just might say "NO" to Stephen Harper when considering whether bills are in the best interests for Canadians. The old P.C.'s did things differently, "were things in the best interest for Canadians" would be asked first.

The evil Conservatives just might tell Stephen Harper that they simply don't agree with the bill thrown at them.

What will Stephen Harper do?

[MJH]

Wonderful, wonderful, good news after so many years of a stacked Liberal Senate. Way to Go Steve!!

[Mark]

This is fantastic. With any luck there will be a tory majority govt soon as well.