Roundup: The business of selling seats

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Kevin O’Leary went on television on the weekend, because of course he did, and then said a bunch of nonsense. Because of course he did. This time, it was to whine about how it’s not fair that rich people can’t fund their own campaigns, and to say that he thinks that the Senate should be a profit centre rather than a cost, and charging people $100K to $200K per year for the privilege of sitting there. No, seriously. He has said he thinks it’s fine to sell seats in a house of Parliament, and nobody challenged him on that point of the fact that it’s grossly unconstitutional. (Only a later update of the story added quotes from Emmett Macfarlane that appeared to be what he tweeted on the subject).

Not only that, but you immediately had a bunch of chuckleheads showing up on the Twitter Machine going “a plain reading of the constitution would say this is allowed” without any hint that they are being ironic. Before Leonid Sirota beat me to the punch, I was going to remind everyone that the idea of selling Senate seats came up during the Supreme Court of Canada hearing on the Senate reference, where Justice Cromwell cornered the government’s lawyers on the question of “consultative elections” and how they wouldn’t require a change in the constitution. “If consultative elections are allowed, then why not a consultative auction?” asked Justice Cromwell, and well, the government lawyer had to basically swallow that one. (To remind you, they ruled that consultative elections are not allowed without a change to the constitution).

I would also add that for as much as we’ve (rightfully) lambasted O’Leary on this ludicrous idea, the NDP and others have been floating around a similar idea in the past about defunding the Senate and making it a volunteer position – you know, so that just like O’Leary’s plan, it becomes available to only the super-rich who have the time and resources to devote to doing the work. Because that’s exactly the kinds of people we want to fill those seats. Not to mention, if O’Leary thinks that Senate seats should be up for sale, why not any other federally appointed position – judges, heads of tribunals, Commissioner of the RCMP? All profit generators instead of a drain on the taxpayer, right? Yeah, no.

On a related note, O’Leary said that if he does win the leadership, he wouldn’t be in any rush to run in a by-election but would spend time crossing the country to gather support. Because this is what happens when you don’t insist that the leadership be from caucus. It elevates the position above what it should be, and diminishes the role of caucus and the value of a seat in parliament. Leadership races should be by caucus selection, not membership vote. We’ve bastardized our system enough, and we need to reign it in.

Good reads:

  • Dominic Barton, the government’s big economic advisor, says we need to be nimble in bracing for the Trumpocalypse.
  • Here’s a look at the strange netherworld that Canada seems to inhabit in the Trumpocalypse, neither ally nor target.
  • CBC looks at some of the future signals around oil sands investment.
  • While Baby Boomers may be grousing that they’re on their way out of cabinet posts, there are some good points made about the loss of institutional memory.
  • A Thornhill Mosque and Synagogue worked together to bring over Syrian refugees.
  • Ukraine is hoping our 200 non-combat trainer troops will stay in their country.
  • The Supreme Court of Canada may soon need to find a temporary home to undergo five years of renovations, as their building is nearing systems failure.
  • Lisa Raitt says she doesn’t expect the Conservative leadership race to narrow any further at this point. Get ready for the ranked ballot to go for a lot of rounds!
  • Aaron Wherry says that while Trudeau gets points for showing up on his listening tour, he’ll need to ditch his talking points before we can call him courageous.
  • Michael Den Tandt lists five ways that the Trumpocalypse could be to our benefit, but I’m not sure about all of them.

Odds and ends:

Stephanie Kusie has won the Conservative nomination in Jason Kenney’s old riding.

Former federal finance minister Joe Oliver lost his nomination bid to run provincially in Ontario. *sad trombone*

One thought on “Roundup: The business of selling seats”

  1. O’Leary and CTV am not surprised that he was not challenged on his point. 1. such shows are pure entertainment only and not to be taken seriously. 2. Hosts of such shows are there to keep things rolling a bit like a game show host. The unfortunate result is that lots of people watching will think this is a great idea.

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