In Act 5 Scene 2 of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, when the overthrow of the ruthless, power-drunk politician/king is nigh, Angus speaks these words about him: Now does he feelHis secret murders sticking on his hands.Now minutely revolts upbraid his faith-breach.Those he commands move only in command,Nothing in love. Now does he
Continue readingTag: Canadian Senate
Politics and its Discontents: Mike Duffy – A Senator With Neither Credibility Nor Honour
Thomas Walkom explains why. Recommend this Post
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: This morning I saw a few minutes of a CBC Newsworld political…
This morning I saw a few minutes of a CBC Newsworld political panel and again concluded that Canada must abolish its senate immediately. Abolish it now! There is no time for messing about. The dishonourable, fraud-committing senate serves no legitimate purpose in this day and age, and it’s debatable whether
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Some Low-Hanging Fruit
My, my, my, they are incorrigible, aren’t they? Recommend this Post
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: Members of Canada’s centrist New Democratic Party (NDP)…
Members of Canada’s centrist New Democratic Party (NDP) caucus sing the Stompin’ Tom Connors song “Bud the Spud”, which is about a character who — unlike the fraudulent Conservative senator Mike Duffy — lives in Prince Edward Island. The guitarists are Charlie Angus and Andrew Cash, who were professional musicians
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: There’s been so much bullshit and insanity in the Canadian…
There’s been so much bullshit and insanity in the Canadian political scene lately, it’s hard to keep on top of it all. Here are just a few recent examples: fraud and theft being officially endorsed in the Canadian senate prime minister Stephen Harper and his stooges lying through their teeth
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Canadian Senate Expenses Scandal: Harper Must Back Off And Let Justice Prevail
By: Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive | Feb. 27, 2013: Has Prime Minister Stephen Harper finally awakened to the reality that Canada’s appointed Senate is indeed a scandal-ridden ”useless, expensive, undemocratic appendage of government”? That a majority of democracy-loving Canadians don’t really find the unfolding Senatorial soap opera engulfing mostly his appointees that funny? Is he finally admitting the truth: he’s the world’s worst
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Does Mike Duffy Have ‘Pump Head’?
Well, in the tried and true tradition of governments announcing embarrassing news on Fridays, ‘P.E.I. Senator’ Mike Duffy kinda sorta admitted to maybe an error, thanks to ‘confusing senate forms’ asking for his primary residence. Not that he did anything wrong, of course, but after 80 days of what Tim
Continue readingAutonomy For All: How Difficult is Senate Abolition? A Law Professor Responds
Yesterday I came across this piece in the Hill Times that was quite negative on the constitutional prospects for Senate abolition. A couple different experts were quoted in the piece, and a couple elements of what they’re quoted as saying weren’t clear to me so I wrote to one of
Continue readingAutonomy For All: Most Senates are Subordinate to Lower Houses
I can’t claim to have reviewed every one of the 60 odd national governments with Senates, but in my review of a large number I find that limitations similar to what I outlined for Australia’s Senate are the norm, not the exception. Canadians probably have a skewed view based on
Continue readingAutonomy For All: Canadian Senate Reformers Should Not Cite The Australian Senate
Advocates of Senate reform (particularly direct election of Canadian Senators) have taken to citing Australia’s Senate as evidence that elected and democratically legitimate Senates are compatible with well run societies (here, here and here). They should desist, unless they are prepared to advocate for an actual Australian model Senate, which
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: Inspired by news stories of the last week or so: What do the…
Inspired by news stories of the last week or so: What do the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the Vatican, the Canadian senate, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Conservative Party of Canada have in common? They are antiquated, dysfunctional, corrupt, racist, sexist, homophobic, elitist, perverted, deceitful, abusive,
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: A message to grassroots supporters of the Harper Conservatives…
A message to grassroots supporters of the Harper Conservatives (and those who are on the fence): When the Harper Cons lie, cheat, steal and commit fraud, they are doing it to you too. When they keep secrets, they are hiding important information from you too. When they waste money and
Continue readingAutonomy For All: The Sensible Path: Abolish the Senate
Calls for reform represent a stealth effort to foist a radical new form of government on an unsuspecting Canadian public. Aside from the cost (about $90 million per year) and the recent scandals about residency and private life criminal behaviour, the real threat the Senate poses is that it has (mostly)
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Will Brazeau provide the needed momentum for Senate reform?
For years, one of the few things that I have agreed with Harper has been on the issue of Senate reform. I don’t necessarily agree on all the details, and I think the NDP’s idea of abolishing the senate over reforming it holds some merit, but to the general spirit
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Scourge of the Undead
While there was much talk in the House of Commons yesterday about how to prevent a ‘zombie apocalypse,’ in Canada, Bob Hepburn has his own solution on how to deal with the scourge of the undead: hold a referendum on abolishing the Senate. Noting that it costs well over $100
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Dire Warning!
Could this emergency broadcast really have been about unusual activity in our Senate? Recommend this Post
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Canada Politics News Watch on Monday, February 11, 2013: Morning Picks
By Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive, Feb. 11, 2013: Senator Patrick Brazeau: Brazeau symbolic of Harper’s indifference to First Nations – Winnipeg Free Press Brazeau, Harper and Idle No More – The Tyee Let’s talk about punishing mentally ill – Winnipeg Free Press Brazeau Just Latest Thrown Under Bus by Harper – The Tyee Editorial: Unreformed
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: Here’s some 2009 footage of Canadian Conservative Senator…
Here’s some 2009 footage of Canadian Conservative Senator Mike Duffy on CBC Newsworld’s Power & Politics. The title given to the Youtube video is 100% accurate: “a Drunken Mike Duffy attacks the Canadian Press, elected Members of Parliament”. I remember seeing it the first time it aired. Duffy was attempting
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Yet another Senate reform blogpost
Ideas to reform the Senate seem to be the Canadian version of the Holy Grail. This week, you’ve seen not calls for reform, but calls to abolish it with the behaviors coming to light of a couple of Harper-appointed Conservative Senators in the form of Mike Duffy and Patrick Brazeau.
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