Roundup: A moratorium courting constitutional crisis

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Without going too deeply into this (something I’ll save for later), Stephen Harper decided that his best way to “differentiate” himself on the Senate was to flout the constitution, and declare a moratorium on any future appointments. There are already 22 vacancies in the Chamber – a full fifth of its complement, and more than any in history. It’s unconscionable, because there are supposed to be 105 senators, and not a maximum of. It’s a complete abrogation of the compromises made by the Fathers of Confederation, and furthermore, it’s also flouting the decision of the Supreme Court who said explicitly that the Senate has a role with sober second thought. That role is already being compromised because they’re having trouble filling committee seats, and this is a very serious problem. On the one hand, this official declaration of a moratorium is a gift to Vancouver lawyer Aniz Alani, who has launched a challenge in Federal Court to get a declaration that the Prime Minister is obligated to make appointments as they happen. It’s also courting problems with federal-provincial relations for a couple of reasons – one is that Harper is now attempting to do through the back door what he won’t do from the front door (again), and he’s using a childish tactic of throwing this problem into the laps of the premiers to come up with some kind of solution without him. It also highlights that there is again a choice for voters in the election – you can vote to keep in a party whose leader flouts the constitution and the Supreme Court; one who promises to do the very same while chasing the pipe dream of Senate abolition; and one who has promised concrete and constitutional measures to reform the appointment process in the same way that Harper did with vice-regal appointments. Oh, and in case you were wondering, if the courts declare that a Prime Minister has a constitutional obligation to make appointments as they happen – and that’s pretty much guaranteed – and the PM still refuses to, we’re into constitutional crisis territory where the Governor General will have the very real need to dismiss said PM. This is what we’re courting here. It’s not a trivial matter.

https://twitter.com/aaronwherry/status/624675200358055936

https://twitter.com/inklesspw/status/624675923984576512

https://twitter.com/emmmacfarlane/status/624676159687671809

https://twitter.com/emmmacfarlane/status/624676449245638656

https://twitter.com/emmmacfarlane/status/624676790179655680

https://twitter.com/emmmacfarlane/status/624677092953858048

Good reads:

  • “Experts” say the Senate is sliding toward irrelevance. Err, except they still get amendments to bills in pre-study, and said experts haven’t been looking at the Commons.
  • General Vance admits the military has been blind and tone-deaf to the problem of sexual misconduct in its ranks.
  • So the Shared Services Canada email transformation project is turning into a giant boondoggle. Gosh. Who would have thought?
  • Anonymous says that they have hacked government secrets, and will start releasing them in retaliation for an RCMP shooting in BC.
  • Chris Alexander, who championed the government’s bill on stopping “barbaric cultural practices,” celebrated Eid with a proponent of child marriage. Oops.
  • Mark Kennedy has a profile of Mulcair and his climb to the top of the polls.
  • Susan Delacourt ponders the existential questions of the Liberal party.
  • James Bowden critiques the government’s “Canada 150” campaign, seeing as Canada actually began in 1791.

Odds and ends:

The NDP are asking the finance committee to be recalled to discuss the softening economy.

The NDP are also asking parents who don’t need their UCCB cheques to donate them…to the party.

https://twitter.com/emmmacfarlane/status/624699258399293440

https://twitter.com/emmmacfarlane/status/624699714496274432