If you were to turn to the Big Book of Canadian Political Journalism Clichés, you’d find pages of tiresome and frankly libellous descriptions of the Senate of Canada. And oh, look – The Canadian Press drew from a number of them to craft the lead of their latest piece: “Canada’s Senate, often accused of being an anachronism, is being asked to wrestle with the futuristic dream of driverless cars.” Of course, the accusations of being an anachronism often come from clueless political journalists who recite the received wisdom around the Upper Chamber with little or no critical insight or understanding of Chamber, its actual role, or its operations, and they treat it like a joke, which makes ledes like this commonplace. “Isn’t it hilarious that the Senate is supposed to look at future technology? Aren’t they all ancient, napping in the Chamber? LOL,” and so on. And then this line a little further down in the piece: “His request for a Senate study is part of the Trudeau government’s attempt to recast the much-maligned upper house as an independent and valued institution that has an important parliamentary role to play.” Um, no, it doesn’t need to be recast as having an important role to play because they’ve always had it. The Senate has been doing the kinds of cutting-edge policy study and research that the Commons can’t or won’t for decades. Just in the last parliament alone, they studied things like BitCoin and crypto-currencies, and they have been debating legislation on growing issues like genetic privacy that the Commons continues to shirk while they snipe at one another over partisan issues. But hey, when asked to do a comprehensive study on the regulatory, policy and technical issues that need to be addressed by the growing field of driverless cars, hey, it’s all a big joke because it’s the Senate. That kind of tiresome attitude is part of why the studies and reports that come out of the Senate – which in many ways acts like a built-in think tank for Parliament (and a hugely cost-effective one at that) – tend to go under the radar. Some reports get a couple of days of press, such as the very good report on the Canada-US price differential (which the previous government then largely ignored when they went to craft legislation to close that gap – an issue now moot thanks to our falling dollar), but for the most part, the media will ignore the studies. It’s really a shame because there is a lot of good work in there that is worth a lot more discussion and attention, lest it gather dust on a shelf. But why actually turn to those studies when we can make jokes about the Senate, malign its denizens thanks to the actions of a couple of bad apples, and ignore the actual work while grumbling that they aren’t elected? It’s too bad that We The Media can’t take these things more seriously, as we would all be better off as an informed citizenry as a result.
Good reads:
- News of both job losses and a major new CSeries contract for Bombardier could mean the company’s fortunes are turning around.
- At the same time as that Air Canada deal was signed with Bombardier, the province of Quebec dropped its lawsuit against the carrier over maintenance contracts.
- Incidentally, the NDP have joined the howls of the Quebec government and opposition for the federal government to throw more money at Bombardier.
- The air mission against ISIS has officially ended.
- Glitchy HR software meant that Department of Justice lawyers have been overpaid by $25-50 million since 2007.
- The Shipbuilding Association of Canada wants the government to reopen the shipyard contracts because of escalating costs. Irving is not part of the group.
- The Conservatives have put forward a motion on the Order Paper to condemn the Israel boycott movement, mere days after MPs returned from a junket to Israel.
- Kevin Milligan looks at how BC is managing its balanced budget.
- Paul Wells gives Michael Ignatieff a pasting over his recent writings about the Syrian situation.
- Robyn Urback is not persuaded by the Liberal House Leader’s argument for whipping a future vote on doctor-assisted dying legislation.
- Scott Brison makes a direct pitch to millennials to join the civil service.
Odds and ends:
Someone at DND vandalized the Canadian Forces Military Police’s Wikipedia page.
It sounds like the government is trying to organise a royal tour for the 150th anniversary celebration.
Here’s a look at how MPs coped with Tuesday’s record snowfall.