The Canadian Senate and the Democratic Deficit
My my, Paul Martin - your hands are looking dirtier every day.
Paul Martin appointed Dennis Dawson to the Senate yesterday.
Aside from bearing a striking resemblance to TeenWolf, what are his qualifications?
1) He ran as a Liberal candidate for Paul Martin in Beauport last year, bringing in only 25% of the vote in his riding. Beauport was supposed to be a "winnable" Liberal riding. The Liberals only lost it by 790 votes in the 2000 election. Based on the strong endorsement from the people in his riding, his appointment to the senate is clearly democracy in action.
2) He represented clients lobbying the department of Finance while Paul Martin was Finance Minister,
3) He was a Liberal Parliamentary secretary,
4) His lobbying firm, Hill & Knowlton, donated several thousand dollars to Paul Martin, and several thousand more to the Liberal party. Dawson, of course, was the president of the lobbying firm.
5) He personally donated money to the Liberals, as seen here,
6) He WORKED FOR PAUL MARTIN'S COMPANY, CANADA STEAMSHIP LINES. I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried..
7) He worked as a personal advisor to Paul Martin in government.
Now, Dennis Dawson has his golden handshake. No qualifications necessary - this is just the second half of a quid pro quo. Paul Martin was relentless in his criticism of Chretien's patronage appointments. Now that he's in a position to fix the problem, we are learning that he's even worse.
Before anyone says it - yes, there were 2 Conservatives appointed to the senate this time around. No, this is not an example of Paul Martin being fair, or democratic.
The fact is there are literally not enough non-liberals in the senate for them to find enough opposition members to run meetings. If they didn't appoint 1 or 2 token opposition senators, the senate would cease to "function".
Fix the Senate. Fix the democratic deficit. Paul Martin, stop giving your friends, and other assorted people who have given you money, cushy government jobs.
You have a choice, sir.
Paul Martin appointed Dennis Dawson to the Senate yesterday.
Aside from bearing a striking resemblance to TeenWolf, what are his qualifications?
1) He ran as a Liberal candidate for Paul Martin in Beauport last year, bringing in only 25% of the vote in his riding. Beauport was supposed to be a "winnable" Liberal riding. The Liberals only lost it by 790 votes in the 2000 election. Based on the strong endorsement from the people in his riding, his appointment to the senate is clearly democracy in action.
2) He represented clients lobbying the department of Finance while Paul Martin was Finance Minister,
3) He was a Liberal Parliamentary secretary,
4) His lobbying firm, Hill & Knowlton, donated several thousand dollars to Paul Martin, and several thousand more to the Liberal party. Dawson, of course, was the president of the lobbying firm.
5) He personally donated money to the Liberals, as seen here,
6) He WORKED FOR PAUL MARTIN'S COMPANY, CANADA STEAMSHIP LINES. I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried..
7) He worked as a personal advisor to Paul Martin in government.
Now, Dennis Dawson has his golden handshake. No qualifications necessary - this is just the second half of a quid pro quo. Paul Martin was relentless in his criticism of Chretien's patronage appointments. Now that he's in a position to fix the problem, we are learning that he's even worse.
Before anyone says it - yes, there were 2 Conservatives appointed to the senate this time around. No, this is not an example of Paul Martin being fair, or democratic.
The fact is there are literally not enough non-liberals in the senate for them to find enough opposition members to run meetings. If they didn't appoint 1 or 2 token opposition senators, the senate would cease to "function".
Fix the Senate. Fix the democratic deficit. Paul Martin, stop giving your friends, and other assorted people who have given you money, cushy government jobs.
You have a choice, sir.
posted by Michael Fox at 3:43 PM
7 Comments:
There's no whore like an old whore, I guess.
Hey thanks for grabbing the site. Who knows, maybe some day.
OC
It's yours if you want it. :)
Hugh Segal is an old political whore too. Good on the PM to appoint Conservative for balance.
He had to appoint Conservatives. That's the point.
What a joke the senate is, when will we just abolish it? And Teen Wolf is an 80s classic, Michael J. Fox would be a better senator than any of these political hacks.
Michael J. Fox would probably be a good senator. :)
I agree with you Nadine, the senate in its current form is useless.
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