The Senate of Canada - Back on the Job.

To some they're still unelected meddlers who should just sit down and rubber stamp the government's assisted dying law, just as they would have done during the Harper "shut up and do what I say, when I say it" era.

That's not their job. Freed from the yoke of an iron fisted prime minister, the Senate is doing its job. It is providing "sober second thought" to the massively flawed Liberal assisted dying bill.

Unlike the prime minister and his cabinet, the senators can understand the plain words of the Supreme Court of Canada in the Carter decision. They understand the rule of law. They realize that Charter protections aren't something the government can withdraw or rescind to suit political expedience. They know it's not their job to look the other way and pass unconstitutional bills.

And so the Senate is doing its job. Our senators are amending the flawed legislation to bring it into accordance with the law of the land. Justice minister Jody doesn't much like that. She thinks her bill appropriately compromises the Charter protections of the terminally ill. She thinks that Charter rights are something for the government to manipulate, to "balance" as it deems politically expedient.

The Senate has already passed one amendment to the bill. More are in the works. It's probably best to review them at the end when we can see what the law should look like. For now, however, they seem to be doing precisely what Canada's senators are supposed to be doing.

Update:

Here's how Chantal Hebert sees the Senate:

As counterintuitive as it may seem, a more independent Senate may force more democracy (and collegiality) on the House of Commons: What is certain is that Bill C-14 gave the maligned upper house a much-needed opportunity to shine in a capacity other than that of parliamentary villain. The high calibre of its deliberations confounded many of its critics.

For the first time in years, the upper house earned some truly positive coverage.

It is early days but, based on the assisted-death debate, it is possible to postulate that the more the Liberal government uses its majority to truncate debate in the Commons, the more scrutiny it can expect in the Senate. To earn the respect of a less partisan upper house, the government may have to show more respect to due process in the House of Commons.

Amen.

What's Going On with the Senate?

It seems there are a good many senators anxious about the already overdue audit reports into their expenses.  Complicating matters is the letter they were cajoled into signing that waives all privilege, both Parliamentary and solicitor-client.

Suddenly we seem to have a Senate packed full of Mike Duffys in waiting. From what I'm hearing they're bringing in sawdust by the truckload to cover the floor of the Red Chamber.

The trick now is to figure how this is going to play out in Stephen Harper's election planning.  He's got that place heavily larded with his own appointees. 52 Conservatives versus 30 Liberals and 6 independents.

It's hard to see where this is going but we know that this prime minister never turns his back on something that he can transform into an opportunity.

Heads up.

Duffy's Shadow Looms Over Harper's Future

We won't have long to wait for the release of the tell-all book on Mike Duffy, penned by his old journalism colleague, Dan Leger.

The book, Duffy: Stardom to Senate to Scandal,  is said to revisit the good old days when Leger met Duffy in Ottawa (1984-1990) and traces Duffy's television career, his pursuit of a seat in the Senate and the scandal that brought him down and continues to plague Stephen Harper.

According to Leger, he and Duffy spent hours on the deck of the senator's Cavendish cottage as Duffy spilled the beans.  Duffy maintained, as he always has, that he was set up by Harper and the prime minister's office.  Leger writes:

Over time, the links to the prime minister’s office became much more clear and the RCMP’s case against Duffy and the other senators came to light. Prime Minister Stephen Harper himself came into the critical spotlight. It also became obvious that Duffy and the others were being well and truly thrown under the bus by their former Conservative friends.

 That’s why this is not just a story about misbehaving senators. The Duffy-Senate affair spilled across the weeks and months and into the central machinery of government. Nigel Wright’s involvement put the PMO at the centre of the scandal. Harper himself was reduced to talking points. 
Friends of Ol' Duff are less than happy that the beleaguered senator spoke so freely to Leger.  They fear Duffy may have given too much away too early. 

It's Not the Senate, But Close

Disgraced, ex-Tory senator Patrick Brazeau has found work apparently almost in the shadow of Parliament Hill.  Brazeau is the new day manager at the Bare Fax Gentlemen's Club.

A visitor from Lanham, U.S.A. left this review on Yelp:

Coming from the US for a business trip in Ottawa. I have to say Barefax is the best strip club I've been to. All of my previous experience has been in the US. The girls are  a lot more friendly, not pushy at all. They're more beautiful as well. The only place in the US that has equivalent quality of girls is Vegas. What's more, you're free to touch.
Oh dear.  Then again, I'll bet Brazeau isn't the first senator to grace this establishment.

Is Duffy Toast?

This story has been kicking around for a few days.   Former  CTV News Conservative party apologist turned Harper senator, Mike Duffy, seems to be in a great deal of hot water.  

I've known Duffy since the early 70's and I always knew him to be a full-time Ottawa guy.   He worked in Ottawa.   He owned property in the Ottawa area.  He was from Prince Edward Island but it's almost commonplace for prominent Ottawans to hail from someplace else.

Then Duffy was appointed by Steve Harper to the Canadian senate, ostensibly as a representative of Prince Edward Island.   The Constitution (s. 23(5)) requires senators to be resident in the province they're appointed to represent.   So Duffy is supposed to be primarily resident in Prince Edward Island.  Apparently senators even have to swear to the fact of residence.  And, because Duffy is supposedly resident in P.E.I., he's been able to claim more than 40-grand in government housing allowances.

This is where the facts get sticky.   Duffy and his wife are the registered owners of a modest, cottage property in P.E.I. but, after that, the residency thing gets clouded.   That cottage is taxed at a higher, non-resident rate because Duffy has not been recognized as a resident of P.E.I.   I assume Duffy has been voluntarily paying non-resident property taxes on the cottage.

Now, back to this business about swearing to be ordinarily resident in Prince Edward Island.   Duffy wasn't registered to vote in the last P.E.I. elections.   However he was registered and did vote in the last Ontario elections.    Now as far as I can tell, Ontario has a fairly loose residency requirement so it is possible that a person who is resident for part of the time in an electoral district but permanently resident somewhere else can still vote in Ontario elections.   Prince Edward Island, by contrast, requires residence at least six months prior to the election in order to vote.

And then there was the matter of Mike's P.E.I. healthcare card.  He doesn't have one.   Yet when senators were asked to provide drivers' licenses, healthcare cards, provincial tax returns and other evidence of their actual residency, Duffy's people got on the blower to Charlottetown to see if the senator could get a health card fast tracked to him, pronto.  But there's a problem.  P.E.I. has a 3-month waiting period for healthcare eligibility and the provincial government wasn't willing to waive that for senator Duffy.   Senators were given a January 31 deadline for submitting the specified documentation.   No word yet on what he came up with on provincial tax returns but after 40-years in Ottawa, I'd be surprised if senator Mike hasn't been filing Ontario returns.

Today our every move is logged and can be easily reconstructed from credit card, cell phone and travel records.   It will be a ridiculously easy matter to identify just were senator Duffy has been spending his time since his appointment and, specifically, how often he has been resident in Prince Edward Island.   Documentary evidence including his tax records and health care history will add clarification.

The next question is what it means if Duffy hasn't been eligible to represent P.E.I. since his appointment?    How many others aren't entirely kosher either?   Let's face it, you get a lifetime (75) appointment to Ottawa and you settle in.   Rules bend.   But what if you were never resident when you were appointed?   What if you were never eligible to be appointed to the senate?   Can the defect be cured after the fact?   What of the salary and benefits you've collected in the interval?   What of the oath you've sworn as to your residency?  Have you perjured yourself?  Have you defrauded the government of money and benefits knowing you weren't resident in the province you purported to represent?   Are you liable to make restitution? What of the votes you have cast while ineligible?

The situation gives rise to a great many questions but, in fairness, they won't be answered until the facts become clear.   Still, they do have to be answered.