More senators — lots more senators

Michael Fortier won't be getting a call but I'll bet John Reynolds might get a look for one of the 3 BC Senate seats that are open:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is poised to name as many new senators as he can before Christmas, Canwest News Service has learned.

There are 18 vacancies in the 105-seat Senate and Harper will try to fill as many of those slots as quickly as possible in order to put them out of reach of a Liberal-NDP coalition.

The Liberals will continue to hold the majority in the Senate even if Harper fills all 18 vacancies.

Each new senator will be a Conservative and is likely to share the prime minister's views on Senate reform, a senior government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

In the last Parliament, the Harper government attempted some reforms, such as introducing eight-year term limits on senators. Currently, a senator remains in office until reaching the age of 75.

Legislation to change the Senate died with the last Parliament.

Harper and the Conservatives believe that the opportunity to reform the Senate will be lost for a generation if a Liberal-NDP coalition fills up the vacancies.

Read the rest of the story

One thought on “More senators — lots more senators”

  1. I think the way this story is written ties in with a previous thread, where a Forrester report apparently found print media scored higher than other media in the “trust” factor.
    Although I personally do not trust much of what I read in the traditional print media, finding much of it more editorializing rather than factual reporting, filled with connotative language and emotional coloration, I found your report about the senate appointments refreshingly neutral.
    I have no ulterior motive in awarding this laurel. I'm just happy to see an actual report rather than an op-ed masquerading as a report.

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