Roundup: An appointment panel is named

Posted on by

The government announced the composition of the permanent members of the Senate appointment advisory board, along with the ad hoc members of the three provincial members for the Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba seats that they plan to fill immediately. The federal members are headed by Huguette Labelle, a former senior civil servant and chancellor of Ottawa University, along with Indira Samarasekera, the former president of U of A who comes from a physical sciences background, and Daniel Jutras, a dean of law from McGill University. The provincial members have more varied backgrounds, including one Manitoba member who is a folk singer who also dabbles in pseudoscience around past lives, so oops there. They expect to make their first round of recommendations by the end of February – later than would have been hoped, but it’s only about three sitting weeks, so not too long to delay processes in the Senate, particularly as one of those first five appointments is to be the government’s new “coordinator” in the Senate (which remains a boneheaded suggestion if you ask me, considering that they will have no Senate experience whatsoever). And then come the complaints, mostly from the Conservatives (though the NDP did their share of tutting and shaking their heads about the “undemocratic” nature of the Senate). The problem with the complaints, largely coming out of Conservative Senate Leader Claude Carignan’s office, is that they’re grasping at straws – two of the academics were Trudeau Foundation scholars, so that obviously means they’re Liberals and can’t possibly be independent, right? No, seriously, that was Carignan’s argument. Also, that they were too elitist to pick “ordinary” Canadians to sit in the Senate, which actually isn’t their mandate. They are supposed to look for people with distinguished public service or who have some legislative experience. While I have my particular issues with the notion that the new Senators appointed through this process will all be independent (no, that’s not a guarantee, and nothing can stop them from joining whichever caucus they choose), there is this endemic chattering amongst Conservative senators that they’ll just all be Liberals by any other name, and as a result, they denounce the whole process. Never mind that the process by which some of those same senators got appointed was not particularly well run (the panic appointments of 2008 produced a number of senators of dubious merit), it makes their objections to this process to seem a bit precious. The other complaints – that because the appointment panel was not chosen by all-party consensus, that their deliberations are secret, that the short-lists are similarly kept secret, that the PM isn’t bound by the list – are all frankly out of step with the practice of Responsible Government and the constitution, and make no sense. Scott Reid’s complaint that it’s a process insulting to Albertans and their “elected” senators is also farcical considering the sham election process and the judgment of the Supreme Court of Canada in the Senate reference case. And while there is plenty of things that could be criticised about the way this process is happening, the fact that the Conservatives are choosing the most ridiculous and specious arguments is a sign of that they’re not taking this seriously, which blunts the effectiveness of their role as official opposition.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau and five other ministers have arrived in Davos for the World Economic Forum.
  • The Conservatives have set the date for their leadership as May 27, 2017. Laura Payton speaks to Kevin O’Leary about his plans.
  • Thomas Mulcair reheated his campaign speech in a pitch to a return to social democratic values and listening to the party’s grassroots.
  • The lifting of sanctions on Iran could be a boon for the Canadian aerospace sector…but those sanctions were “booby-trapped” with other Conservative laws.
  • The waiving of travel fees for most Syrian refugees has concerns raised about the creation of a two-tiered system.
  • Ruh-roh! Those Kurdish allies we’re training are being accused of destroying the homes of Arab civilians in the area.
  • Stephen Saideman disputes that the “snub” of Canada not being invited to this coalition meeting is a big deal, while the Conservatives concern troll.
  • Michael Den Tandt thinks Thomas Mulcair should stick around, while Chantal Hébert thinks there’s no compelling case to keep him around.
  • Susan Delacourt notes the effectiveness with which Stephen Harper has disappeared from the political scene.

Odds and ends:

There was a major shake-up in the top ranks of the Canadian Forces.

Suspended Senator Patrick Brazeau had emergency surgery after being found injured in his home; there is no criminal investigation.