Stephen Harper's Latest Shenanigans

First Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper dissolves Parliament before it could give him a vote of no confidence. Now he's trying to re-make Parliament in his own image.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/editorial/story.html?id=d84bc837-ac71-4c70-bbf9-c56b1b0aab56

Just days after shutting down Parliament because he lost the confidence of the House of Commons, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is now turning his back on years of self-professed democratic principle by announcing he will stack the Senate with 18 Conservative patronage appointments.

Such a move is clearly undemocratic, shamefully hypocritical and according to a growing chorus of scholarly experts, constitutionally questionable.

Just a short while ago, Harper stated that "an appointed Senate is a relic of the 19th century." In 2004, he promised never to appoint any Senators until the upper chamber became an elected body. Far from the Senate becoming any more democratic, Harper now wants to go back on his word and stack this legislative body before he loses office, which may be as early as end of January.

Despite the fact that he's lost the confidence of Parliament, Harper should be focused on the 71,000 Canadians who lost their jobs last month, not on the 18 Conservatives who he wants to finds work for next month.

This hypocritical and undemocratic move is also pretty expensive. Remember when the Conservatives said it was important for public officials to tighten their belts, just as average Canadians were doing during the recession? This patronage spree will cost millions annually. The average Senator receives $130,400 in salary and spends about $89,539 a year on travel. The Senate of Canada sits three days a week.

That's good work if you can get it. No doubt there are many Conservatives willing to take one for the team should Harper ask them to serve.

It seems like Stephen Harper is a spiritual brother of George W. Bush in terms of ruthlessly subverting his own nation's democratic traditions in order to get his own way and to enrich his already rich and powerful buddies in the process. In the process, the financial woes of ordinary citizens get ignored.