Roundup: Disappointed or not, the Senate did its job

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With Bill C-377 now passed thanks to procedural strong-arming that sets terrible precedent, the Senate has now adjourned for the summer. In the wake of the bill passing, there we are yet again being bombarded by the howls that the Senate didn’t do its job because it didn’t defeat a bill that clearly has some questionable constitutional merits. Never mind that if the Senate had voted to defeat the bill, they would have equally been lambasted for not having the democratic legitimacy to do so. As an institution, they are forever damned if they do and damned if they don’t. But even though the bill has passed, the Senate did its job. Agree with it or not, former Supreme Court justice Michel Bastarache did testify at committee that he thought the bill was constitutional, and that’s not meaningless. As well, the fact that the bill got far more debate and scrutiny than it got in the Commons means something. Remember that in the Commons, private members’ bills are limited to a mere two hours of debate at each stage, and rarely get more than that at committee. Because the Senate took far longer with this bill, all of the problems are on the record. That will mean a whole lot when this goes to the courts, and it will – several unions are already promising immediate challenges. The courts will go over the records of debate at the Senate and see all of the problems laid out for them, and it will inform the decision. The courts will be well within their power to strike the statute down if they continue to believe that it’s unconstitutional, or they may strike down certain parts of it if they feel that only part of it is problematic. None of this means that the Senate was asleep on the job. They gave it thorough debate and scrutiny. While many will be disappointed that the bill ultimately passed (because the PMO was using this bill as a government bill in sheep’s clothing), they did their jobs. And hey, a bunch of other terrible PMBs died on the Order Paper, so it’s not all bad news.

Good reads:

  • Thomas Mulcair insists he never contemplated running for the Conservatives, but Lawrence Cannon says he didn’t dismiss the idea.
  • NDP MPs who haven’t repaid for satellite office expenses won’t have their expense claims paid out, and may lose separation pay or pension payments.
  • Kady O’Malley goes through other BOIE decisions, such as allowing NDP unions to use Hill office space, and disallowing carbon offsets out of office budgets.
  • Not only are public sector unions launching a Charter challenge against sick leave changes, they’re trying to get a court injunction against the budget bill changes.
  • A “computer error” is blamed for short-changing low-income families from EI payments, and of course, no apology was offered.
  • I make the case against electoral reform and show why the status quo actually has a lot going for it.

Odds and ends:

Patrick Brazeau’s assault and sexual assault trial is adjourned until mid-September.

Kady O’Malley thinks Dominion Day/Canada Day should be moveable so as to make a long weekend. I completely disagree.

Historical trends show that the high number of MPs not running again could indicate a change in government.

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