Stephen Harper is, well he's a tire biter. He knows he hasn't got the power or legitimacy to take big bites so he tries to get to the same goal by taking a lot of little bites. And he just keeps nipping away.
Take term limits for senators. This is the brainstorm of an intemperate, minority ideologue - hardly the qualifications I'd want to see in a person trying to change the structure of my federal government.
If Harper wants to mess with the senate, it's time he got off his pompous ass and acted like a man. Put forward a package of his senate reform plan, not just bits but the complete deal. You want term limits, you want elected senators, you want to fiddle with the numbers on a province-by-province basis? Then act like you've got a pair, show us what you want, negotiate a constitutional deal with the provinces and, finally, ask our permission. That's right, bozo, put it to a referendum.
These far right hacks have been maligning the senate since "time before time" (they'll know what that means) but the role of this house in Canada is very little known and even more poorly understood. I personally welcome a body of highly accomplished and experienced overseers, serving in a purely advisory role, to lend that "sober, second thought" to the antics of Harpos and Dorkwells.
Electing senators is a proposal fraught with perils. It would then require some agreement on distribution by province. Good luck on that. It would also accord senators legislative legitimacy. No thank you. One legislative house is plenty. Worst of all, it would lead to a lowering of standards. Senators would become hacks like their counterparts in the commons.
But if we're going to face this prospect, let's at least have an honest debate about it. The senate is much too important to leave it to the backroom skulking and scheming of a far-right ideologue.
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