Dallaire, Eggleton among 9 new senators
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*visions*.....hey, who is that smartly dressed military guy shaking the PM's ........throat?
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aesop081
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Bruce Monkhouse said:
Take a number Monkhouse !
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PM picks under fire
Choice of two Progressive Conservatives designed to highlight rift in Harper's partyBy CAMPBELL CLARK
Friday, March 25, 2005 Page A4
OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Paul Martin moved to reopen old wounds in Tory ranks yesterday by appointing two senators who will sit as old-style Progressive Conservatives but will not join Stephen Harper's Conservative Party, in a round of appointments notable for making mischief in opposition ranks.
The appointments include a Saskatchewan neurochemist who plans to sit as a New Democrat but was immediately rejected by that party, a former Liberal minister bounced from cabinet for an ethical breach, and three long-time Martin supporters inside the Liberal Party. And although three hail from Alberta, Mr. Martin ignored those chosen in provincial Senate elections held there, sparking criticism from advocates of change.
Amid the criticism, one appointment, that of widely admired retired general Romeo Dallaire, who led UN peacekeepers in Rwanda, won kudos.
The list of nine new senators -- seven seats are still vacant -- includes six Liberals, but it was the appointment of three supposed opposition members that are not recognized by any official political party that was the most criticized as a cynical move
"Liberal governments don't normally appoint members of the opposition but these people are not going to sit as Liberals," Mr. Martin told reporters. "They are going to sit as members of the opposition caucus and I think it's up to the leaders of the opposition parties to decide whether in fact they will be welcomed into their caucus."
Two of the new senators -- Elaine McCoy, a former provincial Tory minister in Alberta, and Nancy Ruth, the Red Tory sister of former Ontario lieutenant-governor Hal Jackman -- will sit as Progressive Conservatives in the Senate, alongside three PC senators who refused to join the new Conservative Party. Ms. Ruth has been extensively involved in charities, human-rights groups and women's rights groups, including co-founding the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund, known as LEAF.
The move fits with the Liberals' continuing efforts to paint Mr. Harper's Conservative Party as right-wingers who do not welcome moderates.
"I don't think there's any doubt that it's a bit of a Machiavellian move," said Senator Norman Atkins, one of the three current PC senators. He said the "new" Conservatives will be disappointed, but in the end, senators find their own way. "I'm always in favour of anyone who's a Progressive Conservative."
Mr. Harper accused Mr. Martin of insulting Canadians by appointing people to sit as members of a party that does not exist.
"I think it is intellectually dishonest. There is no federal Progressive Conservative Party. This is usually a euphemism now for people who support the Liberal Party federally," he said outside the Commons.
Mr. Martin also appointed Lillian Eva Dyck, associate dean of graduate studies at the University of Saskatchewan, to sit as the first New Democrat senator -- but party Leader Jack Layton immediately said that she is not a member of the NDP and the party will not accept any senators in its caucus.
"She's not a New Democrat. She's not a member of the party. She was not elected as a New Democrat, like the members of our caucus, and it is not Mr. Martin who decides who is a New Democrat," Mr. Layton said. But one New Democrat MP, Pat Martin, said Ms. Dyck is a "wonderful, experienced aboriginal woman,'' who makes an excellent appointee and should be invited into the caucus.
The controversy over the opposition appointments distracted from the appointment of Liberals, although the list was heavy with party stalwarts.
Art Eggleton, who was shuffled out of former prime minister Jean Chrétien's cabinet in 2002 after ethics counsellor Howard Wilson ruled that he had violated ethics guidelines by issuing an untendered contract to a friend, will return to Parliament as a senator.
He chose not to run in last year's election to open a safe seat for former hockey star Ken Dryden, now Social Development Minister.
Former Alberta Liberal leader Grant Mitchell, who carried the Liberal standard against Tory Premier Ralph Klein through much of the 1990s, was also named to the Senate. Two Liberals who helped organize for Mr. Martin's leadership campaign, Nova Scotia's James Cowan and Saskatchewan's Robert Peterson, are also headed to the Red Chamber.
Two less partisan appointees, Mr. Dallaire and Claudette Tardif, a franco-Albertan academic from Edmonton, will also sit in the Senate as Liberals.
The Liberal partisan appointments brought a slew of criticism that Mr. Martin had appointed Liberal friends and violated his pledge to end cronyism in Ottawa.
But the criticism was hottest in Alberta, where unofficial provincial Senate elections have chosen individuals that Mr. Martin ignored. The Prime Minister insisted yesterday that Senate reform could not come in "piecemeal" fashion.
Mr. Martin talks about easing western alienation and democratic reforms, but he doesn't follow it with action, said Link Byfield, one of Alberta's four senators-in-waiting elected last fall and former publisher of the defunct Alberta Report magazine.
"Credible Albertans don't take Senate patronage appointments."
But Ms. McCoy said she is not concerned about the controversy over Senate reform in Alberta, labelled herself a Red Tory, and dismissed criticism about her decision to sit as a Progressive Conservative, rather than as a Conservative with ties to Mr. Harper's party.
"This is a personal choice. This is not a political statement. What it does do is reflect my values and my values are very strongly economic conservative and a social progressive and that has what the party has always meant for me."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050325/SENATE25/TPNational/TopStories
...politics 101, sigh.
Choice of two Progressive Conservatives designed to highlight rift in Harper's partyBy CAMPBELL CLARK
Friday, March 25, 2005 Page A4
OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Paul Martin moved to reopen old wounds in Tory ranks yesterday by appointing two senators who will sit as old-style Progressive Conservatives but will not join Stephen Harper's Conservative Party, in a round of appointments notable for making mischief in opposition ranks.
The appointments include a Saskatchewan neurochemist who plans to sit as a New Democrat but was immediately rejected by that party, a former Liberal minister bounced from cabinet for an ethical breach, and three long-time Martin supporters inside the Liberal Party. And although three hail from Alberta, Mr. Martin ignored those chosen in provincial Senate elections held there, sparking criticism from advocates of change.
Amid the criticism, one appointment, that of widely admired retired general Romeo Dallaire, who led UN peacekeepers in Rwanda, won kudos.
The list of nine new senators -- seven seats are still vacant -- includes six Liberals, but it was the appointment of three supposed opposition members that are not recognized by any official political party that was the most criticized as a cynical move
"Liberal governments don't normally appoint members of the opposition but these people are not going to sit as Liberals," Mr. Martin told reporters. "They are going to sit as members of the opposition caucus and I think it's up to the leaders of the opposition parties to decide whether in fact they will be welcomed into their caucus."
Two of the new senators -- Elaine McCoy, a former provincial Tory minister in Alberta, and Nancy Ruth, the Red Tory sister of former Ontario lieutenant-governor Hal Jackman -- will sit as Progressive Conservatives in the Senate, alongside three PC senators who refused to join the new Conservative Party. Ms. Ruth has been extensively involved in charities, human-rights groups and women's rights groups, including co-founding the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund, known as LEAF.
The move fits with the Liberals' continuing efforts to paint Mr. Harper's Conservative Party as right-wingers who do not welcome moderates.
"I don't think there's any doubt that it's a bit of a Machiavellian move," said Senator Norman Atkins, one of the three current PC senators. He said the "new" Conservatives will be disappointed, but in the end, senators find their own way. "I'm always in favour of anyone who's a Progressive Conservative."
Mr. Harper accused Mr. Martin of insulting Canadians by appointing people to sit as members of a party that does not exist.
"I think it is intellectually dishonest. There is no federal Progressive Conservative Party. This is usually a euphemism now for people who support the Liberal Party federally," he said outside the Commons.
Mr. Martin also appointed Lillian Eva Dyck, associate dean of graduate studies at the University of Saskatchewan, to sit as the first New Democrat senator -- but party Leader Jack Layton immediately said that she is not a member of the NDP and the party will not accept any senators in its caucus.
"She's not a New Democrat. She's not a member of the party. She was not elected as a New Democrat, like the members of our caucus, and it is not Mr. Martin who decides who is a New Democrat," Mr. Layton said. But one New Democrat MP, Pat Martin, said Ms. Dyck is a "wonderful, experienced aboriginal woman,'' who makes an excellent appointee and should be invited into the caucus.
The controversy over the opposition appointments distracted from the appointment of Liberals, although the list was heavy with party stalwarts.
Art Eggleton, who was shuffled out of former prime minister Jean Chrétien's cabinet in 2002 after ethics counsellor Howard Wilson ruled that he had violated ethics guidelines by issuing an untendered contract to a friend, will return to Parliament as a senator.
He chose not to run in last year's election to open a safe seat for former hockey star Ken Dryden, now Social Development Minister.
Former Alberta Liberal leader Grant Mitchell, who carried the Liberal standard against Tory Premier Ralph Klein through much of the 1990s, was also named to the Senate. Two Liberals who helped organize for Mr. Martin's leadership campaign, Nova Scotia's James Cowan and Saskatchewan's Robert Peterson, are also headed to the Red Chamber.
Two less partisan appointees, Mr. Dallaire and Claudette Tardif, a franco-Albertan academic from Edmonton, will also sit in the Senate as Liberals.
The Liberal partisan appointments brought a slew of criticism that Mr. Martin had appointed Liberal friends and violated his pledge to end cronyism in Ottawa.
But the criticism was hottest in Alberta, where unofficial provincial Senate elections have chosen individuals that Mr. Martin ignored. The Prime Minister insisted yesterday that Senate reform could not come in "piecemeal" fashion.
Mr. Martin talks about easing western alienation and democratic reforms, but he doesn't follow it with action, said Link Byfield, one of Alberta's four senators-in-waiting elected last fall and former publisher of the defunct Alberta Report magazine.
"Credible Albertans don't take Senate patronage appointments."
But Ms. McCoy said she is not concerned about the controversy over Senate reform in Alberta, labelled herself a Red Tory, and dismissed criticism about her decision to sit as a Progressive Conservative, rather than as a Conservative with ties to Mr. Harper's party.
"This is a personal choice. This is not a political statement. What it does do is reflect my values and my values are very strongly economic conservative and a social progressive and that has what the party has always meant for me."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050325/SENATE25/TPNational/TopStories
...politics 101, sigh.
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LOL - I'm actually enjoying reading about the political intrigue of appointing Conservative senators in an attempt to widen the rift within the Conservative Party, or the pseudo-NDP senator ... ha!
(who needs Yuk-Yuk's when we've got Parliament Hill ... ?)
Anyway ... I found this Globe and Mail story very interesting - the requirement for a Senator to own land - plus it offers some more detail to the Dallaire/Liberal connection, noting his criticism of the Liberal Party's policies with respect to Darfur ... which hints of an individual who might actually think about issues before voting, before blindly espousing the party line ... Yikes! A senator who thinks ... ?
(to which I give a tip of the hat to our Fathers of Confederation, who at least made an attempt to avoid patronage appointments of people who really wouldn't "deserve" to sit in the Senate ...)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050325/SENA25/TPFront/TopStories
Daillaire's frenzied quest for landBy JANE TABER
Friday, March 25, 2005 Page A1
SENIOR POLITICAL WRITER
OTTAWA -- Roméo Dallaire bought a piece of land several weeks ago in the Gaspé region of Quebec with nothing on it but trees.
It was a hurried purchase but a significant one because without that land Mr. Dallaire, one of the country's military heroes, could not have accepted Prime Minister Paul Martin's offer to sit in the Senate.
Back in 1867, the Fathers of Confederation included in the Constitution Act the section -- 23 (6) -- that states: "in the case of Quebec he shall have his Real Property Qualification in the Electoral Division for which he is appointed, or shall be resident in that Division."
Mr. Dallaire, who is from Quebec City, neither had property nor was a resident in the electoral division of Golfe, which includes the Gaspé, and was the region the Prime Minister wanted him to represent.
He went to work. Fortunately, one of his colleagues is from the region and helped him to find the property.
The 58-year-old won't say exactly where it is, or how much he paid, although the Constitution Act states that a senator must own land worth more than $4,000.
He will allow, however, that the property is a "decent size."
"Well there are lots of trees . . . and an opportunity to expand that and that's what I plan to do," Mr. Dallaire said.
And so yesterday, the human-rights activist and retired general who attempted to stem the 1994 genocide in Rwanda as a United Nations commander, was one of nine Canadians appointed to the Senate, the first such appointments Mr. Martin has made.
Mr. Martin called Mr. Dallaire on Tuesday to confirm the appointment. It was a relatively brief conversation in which the Prime Minister said, "I understand you've indicated you are willing to sit in the Senate."
Mr. Dallaire replied, "I would be proud to serve my country."
Proud to serve his country and to sit as a Liberal. Officials in the Prime Minister's Office, who sounded out Mr. Dallaire about his interest in the Red Chamber, had asked him which party he wanted to represent.
He told them he would sit as a Liberal.
"That was kind of nice," a Liberal official said.
But Mr. Dallaire had no choice.
"I did that because my mother wouldn't accept anything else," he said in an interview yesterday. His father, he said, retired from the military in 1957, and the next year his parents, who lived in the east end of Montreal, joined the Liberal Party. The family has been involved ever since.
"One of the things that is cherished in political parties, which I think is most important, is loyalty," he said. "And so you see it through the good times and the tough times and as such, I saw absolutely no other option than to join it as a Liberal."
Mr. Dallaire joined the army in 1964 and retired in 2000. He had an impressive military career but not an easy one, especially after his experience in Rwanda.
He suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and at one point was in such crisis that he was found unconscious on a park bench, curled up in a fetal position.
He speaks openly about his emotional struggle.
And this outspoken former military man and celebrated author, who has had political ambitions, says being a senator will not stifle his views. Rather, it gives him a place on the inside from which to influence.
"I am quite happy, yes," he said of the appointment. "The family has been very political over decades and so an opportunity to manoeuvre within the political structure is an opportunity I couldn't let go by.
"This medium has not in any way, shape or form given me any indication that I can't continue to advance my thoughts, research and, hopefully, influence in the inside on human rights . . . conflict resolution, how we're aligning our international development, our diplomatic structures, like the reforms in the UN, or our defence forces in their commitment to protection in trouble spots in the world. . . . Hopefully my five cents will be useful in those decision processes."
In January, Mr. Dallaire was at odds with the Prime Minister and his government for not intervening in the Darfur region of Sudan, while not hesitating to assist the victims of the tsunami in South Asia.
He spoke at the screening of the documentary, Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Romeo Dallaire, which dealt with his efforts in Rwanda.
"I applaud the enormous work that we're doing and we must do with the catastrophe that is going on in Asia," he said. "But I am guilty and distraught by our ability to totally abandon a whole other group of humans.
"And the absence of Canada in the forefront of Darfur, in Sudan, is a travesty."
Still, he sides with the Martin government on the controversial legislation to change the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples, which will eventually come to the Senate.
"I have no objection. It doesn't, in my opinion, affect the structures of our nation and of our values and ethics. It's an evolution and to me there is to be no consideration or problem."
(who needs Yuk-Yuk's when we've got Parliament Hill ... ?)
Anyway ... I found this Globe and Mail story very interesting - the requirement for a Senator to own land - plus it offers some more detail to the Dallaire/Liberal connection, noting his criticism of the Liberal Party's policies with respect to Darfur ... which hints of an individual who might actually think about issues before voting, before blindly espousing the party line ... Yikes! A senator who thinks ... ?
(to which I give a tip of the hat to our Fathers of Confederation, who at least made an attempt to avoid patronage appointments of people who really wouldn't "deserve" to sit in the Senate ...)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050325/SENA25/TPFront/TopStories
Daillaire's frenzied quest for landBy JANE TABER
Friday, March 25, 2005 Page A1
SENIOR POLITICAL WRITER
OTTAWA -- Roméo Dallaire bought a piece of land several weeks ago in the Gaspé region of Quebec with nothing on it but trees.
It was a hurried purchase but a significant one because without that land Mr. Dallaire, one of the country's military heroes, could not have accepted Prime Minister Paul Martin's offer to sit in the Senate.
Back in 1867, the Fathers of Confederation included in the Constitution Act the section -- 23 (6) -- that states: "in the case of Quebec he shall have his Real Property Qualification in the Electoral Division for which he is appointed, or shall be resident in that Division."
Mr. Dallaire, who is from Quebec City, neither had property nor was a resident in the electoral division of Golfe, which includes the Gaspé, and was the region the Prime Minister wanted him to represent.
He went to work. Fortunately, one of his colleagues is from the region and helped him to find the property.
The 58-year-old won't say exactly where it is, or how much he paid, although the Constitution Act states that a senator must own land worth more than $4,000.
He will allow, however, that the property is a "decent size."
"Well there are lots of trees . . . and an opportunity to expand that and that's what I plan to do," Mr. Dallaire said.
And so yesterday, the human-rights activist and retired general who attempted to stem the 1994 genocide in Rwanda as a United Nations commander, was one of nine Canadians appointed to the Senate, the first such appointments Mr. Martin has made.
Mr. Martin called Mr. Dallaire on Tuesday to confirm the appointment. It was a relatively brief conversation in which the Prime Minister said, "I understand you've indicated you are willing to sit in the Senate."
Mr. Dallaire replied, "I would be proud to serve my country."
Proud to serve his country and to sit as a Liberal. Officials in the Prime Minister's Office, who sounded out Mr. Dallaire about his interest in the Red Chamber, had asked him which party he wanted to represent.
He told them he would sit as a Liberal.
"That was kind of nice," a Liberal official said.
But Mr. Dallaire had no choice.
"I did that because my mother wouldn't accept anything else," he said in an interview yesterday. His father, he said, retired from the military in 1957, and the next year his parents, who lived in the east end of Montreal, joined the Liberal Party. The family has been involved ever since.
"One of the things that is cherished in political parties, which I think is most important, is loyalty," he said. "And so you see it through the good times and the tough times and as such, I saw absolutely no other option than to join it as a Liberal."
Mr. Dallaire joined the army in 1964 and retired in 2000. He had an impressive military career but not an easy one, especially after his experience in Rwanda.
He suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and at one point was in such crisis that he was found unconscious on a park bench, curled up in a fetal position.
He speaks openly about his emotional struggle.
And this outspoken former military man and celebrated author, who has had political ambitions, says being a senator will not stifle his views. Rather, it gives him a place on the inside from which to influence.
"I am quite happy, yes," he said of the appointment. "The family has been very political over decades and so an opportunity to manoeuvre within the political structure is an opportunity I couldn't let go by.
"This medium has not in any way, shape or form given me any indication that I can't continue to advance my thoughts, research and, hopefully, influence in the inside on human rights . . . conflict resolution, how we're aligning our international development, our diplomatic structures, like the reforms in the UN, or our defence forces in their commitment to protection in trouble spots in the world. . . . Hopefully my five cents will be useful in those decision processes."
In January, Mr. Dallaire was at odds with the Prime Minister and his government for not intervening in the Darfur region of Sudan, while not hesitating to assist the victims of the tsunami in South Asia.
He spoke at the screening of the documentary, Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Romeo Dallaire, which dealt with his efforts in Rwanda.
"I applaud the enormous work that we're doing and we must do with the catastrophe that is going on in Asia," he said. "But I am guilty and distraught by our ability to totally abandon a whole other group of humans.
"And the absence of Canada in the forefront of Darfur, in Sudan, is a travesty."
Still, he sides with the Martin government on the controversial legislation to change the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples, which will eventually come to the Senate.
"I have no objection. It doesn't, in my opinion, affect the structures of our nation and of our values and ethics. It's an evolution and to me there is to be no consideration or problem."
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