Roundup: A blistering condemnation of Peter Harder

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I’ve long held suspicions about the work that Senator Peter Harder, the “government representative” in the Senate, has been doing, and I will say that I was completely alarmed by some of the things brought to light by Liberal Senator James Cowan yesterday in his speech about Senate modernization. It’s a blistering speech, and I suggest you take the 25 minutes to listen to it all, but some highlights: Harder is engaging in revisionist history to claim that the Senate was never meant to be partisan (which is false), and he is trying to do away with the roles of government and opposition (which are integral to the Westminster system) in order to create a bureaucratic-like structure. In a chamber full of independents, there will be fewer checks on the government, and Harder will amass power by acting like the leader of the Senate as a whole, further weakening the chamber’s role as a check on the power of the executive. Harder has gone so far as to start offering to set up meetings with senators and the premiers of the provinces they represent – meeting he would be present at – which is completely improper and something a government representative should have no role in doing. It’s disturbing to listen to how his plans to reorganise the Chamber would take shape, and Cowan’s speech is blistering in its condemnation.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau met with Cuban president Raul Castro, making it the first visit by a Canadian prime minister in over two decades.
  • As expected, the PM named MP Randy Boissonnault as his special representative in dealing with redressing the wrongs committed against sexual minorities in Canada.
  • Bill Morneau says the government would participate in trade talks with the US and Mexico, given how intertwined supply chains are these days.
  • Catherine McKenna says the fight against climate change has reached the point where there’s no turning back.
  • Amarjeet Sohi is trying to calm fears of a toll-road dystopia under an Infrastructure Bank.
  • While the Senate social affairs committee has recommendations about dealing with dementia, Jane Philpott is pledging support.
  • John McCallum says the benefits of lifting the Mexican visa requirement outweigh the risks of a potential flood of false asylum claimants.
  • Here’s a look at some of the challenges in getting Yazidi refugees to Canada.
  • More prominent Conservatives are distancing themselves from Kellie Leitch, including a former Newfoundland & Labrador deputy premier and Hugh Segal.
  • Paul Wells writes about the spectacle of Trudeau’s meeting with foreign investors on Monday.
  • Michael Den Tandt sees Donald Trump (and more importantly Bernie Sanders) as the possible lifeline the NDP need to help find a new direction.
  • David Reevely writes about Canada’s own problem with trolls in our political discussion.
  • My Loonie Politics column this week offers some advice to the new senators being sworn in.

Odds and ends:

It was the Maclean’s Parliamentarian of the Year awards last night. Thomas Mulcair was given the top award, with other winners Rona Ambrose, Kevin Lamoureux, Nathan Cullen, Gérard Deltell, Marilyn Gladu, Larry Bagnell, and lifetime achievement award winner Ed Broadbent.

2 thoughts on “Roundup: A blistering condemnation of Peter Harder”

  1. I am reminded here of statements made by certain senators after the election that they intended to use their CPC majority to obstruct LPC legislation, so I think we differ on exactly how they go about their business. Everybody has their own bias, so it is absolutely impossible to have a completely non-partizan body. IMHO, better to have a senate that includes an entire spectrum of political belief, rather than opposing something that may be in the best interest of their region because their party rejects it. Municipal councils operate on a non-partizan basis, deliver the bulk of government services to their citizens, and do a good job at it.
    More important than that, however, is their ability to act as they were designed – the house of sober second thought, rather than rubber stamp the legislation of the day. They should be turning back omnibus bills to be broken up. They should have the resources to examine bills for their legality. Senate inquiries in the past have provided valuable information and insight into aspects of Canadian life. There should be an inquiry right now into how we use and regulate energy in Canada.

  2. I for one am not surprised at all by Harder, he is an extremely secretive person and there is much more to discover about him. Twenty years ago when he was DM at Immigration he disrupted the department by doing away with all the ADM and having scores of DG report to him directly. He then went on broad staff cuts which were careless at best and are still to this day hampering the work of the department. All this was done to please his political masters at the time. This is how he makes his mark, it’s all about him and ingratiating himself to his master. Why did PMJT put him in that position is a mystery or maybe a way to weaken the Senate.

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