Or we could just have Rod Blagojevich appoint them all
It's time for everyone's favourite pass time - senate appointment speculation! Then "when" part is easy...I assume the names will be dumped on the last Friday before Christmas. The "who" is the more intriguing part. Let's start with the basics:
18 spots to fill
3 in BC
2 in Ontario
4 in Quebec
2 in New Brunswick
3 in Nova Scotia
1 in PEI
1 in Newfoundland
1 in the Yukon
1 in Saskatchewan
Brad Wall has been fairly gung-ho about senate elections, so Harper might decide to take a pass on that seat until they have a chance to vote. There's also heavy speculation that a Tory MPP (most likely Bob Runciman) might be moving down the 401 to sit in the Senate, so that John Tory could get a seat at Queen's Park. John Reynolds, Barbara McDougal, and Lewis MacKenzie also seem like solid bets at this point.
Beyond that, I won't speculate on the names, although there's already been a lot of speculation floating around. What I will say is that I don't think we're going to see 18 Tory hacks. My gut feeling is that Harper will find one or two Liberals or Dippers out there who favour an elected senate, so as to not look as partisan. We'll probably also see a notable Canadian or two, in an effort to deflect the attention away from Harper breaking yet another promise. As others have said, the hockey historian in Harper can probably find an old NHLer somewhere to keep the Big M company.
So feel free to comment away about who should and who will be appointed.
18 spots to fill
3 in BC
2 in Ontario
4 in Quebec
2 in New Brunswick
3 in Nova Scotia
1 in PEI
1 in Newfoundland
1 in the Yukon
1 in Saskatchewan
Brad Wall has been fairly gung-ho about senate elections, so Harper might decide to take a pass on that seat until they have a chance to vote. There's also heavy speculation that a Tory MPP (most likely Bob Runciman) might be moving down the 401 to sit in the Senate, so that John Tory could get a seat at Queen's Park. John Reynolds, Barbara McDougal, and Lewis MacKenzie also seem like solid bets at this point.
Beyond that, I won't speculate on the names, although there's already been a lot of speculation floating around. What I will say is that I don't think we're going to see 18 Tory hacks. My gut feeling is that Harper will find one or two Liberals or Dippers out there who favour an elected senate, so as to not look as partisan. We'll probably also see a notable Canadian or two, in an effort to deflect the attention away from Harper breaking yet another promise. As others have said, the hockey historian in Harper can probably find an old NHLer somewhere to keep the Big M company.
So feel free to comment away about who should and who will be appointed.
posted by calgarygrit at
8:28 a.m.
19 Comments:
Then the new senators would have to donate to the party.
By
Skinny Dipper, at 8:50 a.m.
Who *should* be appointed: Stephen Lewis, David Suzuki, Elizabeth May, Percy Downe, Eddie Goldenberg
Who *will* be appointed: Tom Flanagan, Preston Manning, Ian Brodie, Guy Giorno
By
Anonymous, at 9:20 a.m.
David Suzuki- Yes
Elizabeth May- No
How about Bernard Lord from out of New Brunswick? Both the English and Acadian communities can claim him as one of their own. He's also made noises about democratic reform in the past, and could be counted to support an elected Senate.
By
Independent, at 9:45 a.m.
There's a little mystery. Who would want Percy Downe in the Senate and not know that he's already been there for five years?
By
Paul Wells, at 9:53 a.m.
Bernard Lord can't be appointed if he has any remaining political ambitions. Although there's no law against resigning from the Senate and running for office, it's likely to be viewed negatively.
Any Dipper appointed would not be allowed to be part of the NDP caucus, even if they were benign (as Martin's appointment of a Dipper).
Any Liberal or NDP accepting Harper's poisoned chalice would be severing their ties with their own party.
By
Reality Bites, at 10:12 a.m.
"My gut feeling is that Harper will find one or two Liberals or Dippers out there who favour an elected senate, so as to not look as partisan."
The NDP specifically supports abolishing the Senate altogether; The only Senator who self-identifies as New Democrat does so as an "independent New Democrat," and is not a member of that Party's caucus in Parliament.
By
Anonymous, at 10:25 a.m.
Dr. Keith Martin
Belinda Stronach
Don Cherry
Ron McLean
Bob Cole
Wally Buono
Ken Read
Sam Sullivan
Danny Williams
Ben Mulroney
David McGuinty
Scott Reid
Peter Mansbridge
Lloyd Robertson
David Suzuki
Puhleeze
By
Unknown, at 10:43 a.m.
"Puhleeze"
Exactly!
By
JimTan, at 10:53 a.m.
Harper will appoint himself to the Senate. It'll be like Fortier, only as PM.
By
Anonymous, at 11:40 a.m.
We should stop being speculative, and become dedicated activists, pushing hard for a single prospect. The person chosen should be chosen for his or her political impact just by being promoted.
The political impact I would want to make would be to display Harper as a hypocrite.
Accordingly, we should just all get together and push for Harper to appoint Preston Manning to the Senate.
By
Mark Richard Francis, at 11:53 a.m.
May. Nyet.
Chernushenko. Da.
By
Anonymous, at 12:50 p.m.
Rob Blagojevich battles back against his accusers in this week’s Beema News which can be seen, here.
By
Anonymous, at 2:27 p.m.
Manning would be good, but Alberta has no openings.
By
calgarygrit, at 4:13 p.m.
Ian McLelland and Tom Long.
By
Jonathan Willis, at 4:50 p.m.
Elizabeth May should absolutely NOT be appointed.
Preventing her appointment is one of the reasons that I am happy to see Harper filling the Senate seats now.
Also, the mention of Percy Downe speaks to the intelligence of the person who recommended him, along with Elizabeth May.
Finally, Eddie Goldenberg has done absolutely nothing to merit a senate appointment.
By
Anonymous, at 4:56 p.m.
My view is Harper should tread carefully and I think there is a way he could get a bunch of Conservatives and do it with a non-laughable claim of democratic legitimacy. See my post on this: http://nbpolitico.blogspot.com/2008/12/senate-appointments.html
By
nbpolitico, at 5:15 p.m.
Ignatieff should be appointed so that the Liberal Party can have a leadership race, complete with voting from the members.
By
Anonymous, at 6:31 p.m.
I think it'd be great to see Chernushenko in the Senate, but I believe he's from Alberta, which as Dan points out has no current openings.
By
Anonymous, at 7:15 p.m.
I think he'll appoint a few notable (conservative) Canadians and then mostly Conservative Party hacks. On whom he'll slap some senate reformer harlot red lipstick in order for him to try and deny and/or distract from the flippityfloppiness of the act of appointment itself.
By
Anonymous, at 9:44 a.m.
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