OldSolduer
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I can hear the gnashing of teeth and the cries of "woe is me" amongst the so called "elite".
Trust in our Institutions
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Halifax Tar
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You and @SeaKingTacco may be correct, I just see the senate a wasted, ineffectual, bloated and useless bureaucracy. Maybe that the problem its become a tool of patronage when that was never its intent.
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I’m not sure how an elected senate a la US and Australia doesn’t end up being a second HoC with its attendant political party issues.
Then again, I’m not sure how it doesn’t become patronage eventually if the original intent was as a “House of Lords” equivalent.
IKnowNothing
Army.ca Veteran
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In absolute terms, likely more than Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba combined.
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This political cartoon is over 100 years old (from The Grain Growers Guide, December 1915):
Attachments
Blackadder1916
Army.ca Fixture
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The Swiss require a period of service as a conscript before you can vote. How would that go down in Canada?
Many states in Continental Europe are not such great examples of democracy and freedom if you take some time to look under the hood
I don't think so. At one time, before 1971 when Swiss women got the right to vote, it may have seemed to be so because all able-bodied males over the age of 18 were subject to national service. If you weren't "able-bodied" (i.e., failed the medical and fitness tests) you didn't have to do military service (or alternate civilian service for that matter). Individuals who don't complete national service are subject to a tax (i.e., fine), but it has no effect on voting rights.
Who can vote in Switzerland? Who can’t?
Ahead of parliamentary elections on October 20, swissinfo.ch looks at the third of the Swiss resident population that is disenfranchised.
www.swissinfo.ch
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Please remember that our system of 'responsible' (vs 'representative') democratic government is very old - it does back beyond Simnon de Montfort and beyond even Magna Carta. It has its roots in the Anglo Saxon 'witan' which, eventually, established control over the king's "privy purse,' and controlled him (or very occasionally her) by limiting his ability to raise taxes. Some historians say that some witans even elected their monarchs when there was not a clear and popularly acceptable choice. (Remember, please, that there were many kingdoms in Anglo Saxon Britain.)
De Montfort gave us the idea of a modern parliament in the 13th century (which he lifted from the Icelandic Althing which was established in the 9th or 10th century) in which every 'commune' (or community) was represented by someone other than just the hereditary lord of bishop - by knights of the shire or burghers (landowners or merchants). We still use his term in Canada: the House of Commons in French is 'Chamber des Communes.)
John Locke, in the 17th century, gave Britain (and America) the idea that each individual had certain fundamental, natural (or "inalienable") rights which the sovereign and her for his government was duty bound to maintain but did NOT grant and could not take way.
In the 17th and 18th centuries the British developed the idea that the government, actually the "executive - "the sovereign's "privy council" - was "responsible" to the people by requiring it to have the "confidence" of the House of Commons, of the people's elected representatives. The Americans, and many others, adopted a slightly different system: once elected by a free and fair vote a "representative" government held power for a fixed term.
Canada's constitution represents the first attempt to write a formal, written constitution for a "responsible" ('Westminster' type) parliamentary democracy. It's many flaws, including PEI's Senate seat allocation, for example, were not addressed inter 1970s and '80s when Pierre Trudeau was negotiating the partition and reform of the British North America Act of 1867 because, simply, he didn't care about or even much like "liberal democracy;" his primary interests were: language rights for French Canadians and national management by the political executive.
De Montfort gave us the idea of a modern parliament in the 13th century (which he lifted from the Icelandic Althing which was established in the 9th or 10th century) in which every 'commune' (or community) was represented by someone other than just the hereditary lord of bishop - by knights of the shire or burghers (landowners or merchants). We still use his term in Canada: the House of Commons in French is 'Chamber des Communes.)
John Locke, in the 17th century, gave Britain (and America) the idea that each individual had certain fundamental, natural (or "inalienable") rights which the sovereign and her for his government was duty bound to maintain but did NOT grant and could not take way.
In the 17th and 18th centuries the British developed the idea that the government, actually the "executive - "the sovereign's "privy council" - was "responsible" to the people by requiring it to have the "confidence" of the House of Commons, of the people's elected representatives. The Americans, and many others, adopted a slightly different system: once elected by a free and fair vote a "representative" government held power for a fixed term.
Canada's constitution represents the first attempt to write a formal, written constitution for a "responsible" ('Westminster' type) parliamentary democracy. It's many flaws, including PEI's Senate seat allocation, for example, were not addressed inter 1970s and '80s when Pierre Trudeau was negotiating the partition and reform of the British North America Act of 1867 because, simply, he didn't care about or even much like "liberal democracy;" his primary interests were: language rights for French Canadians and national management by the political executive.
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Those who complain can also have the option of civilian public service in lieu of military service like they do in Switzerland - see if they like it any better
daftandbarmy
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I don't think so. At one time, before 1971 when Swiss women got the right to vote, it may have seemed to be so because all able-bodied males over the age of 18 were subject to national service. If you weren't "able-bodied" (i.e., failed the medical and fitness tests) you didn't have to do military service (or alternate civilian service for that matter). Individuals who don't complete national service are subject to a tax (i.e., fine), but it has no effect on voting rights.
Who can vote in Switzerland? Who can’t?
Ahead of parliamentary elections on October 20, swissinfo.ch looks at the third of the Swiss resident population that is disenfranchised.
Huh...
I've got some news for a Swiss guy I know then
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
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You misspelled “Money Dispensing House.”Probably because that's where the 'Big Courthouse' is located
Eaglelord17
Army.ca Veteran
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It was intended to be a tool of patronage, just who does the appointing has changed (informally if not on paper). When the PM dictates who goes in it defeats the purpose of a separate house.
You can’t have the people who are supposed to be checked by it being the ones appointing to it.
There are things that could be done such as provinces appointing members, limiting terms to say 10 years, etc. There are ways of balancing other than voting in members, the main concerns being making it too powerful and it serving to block everything.
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A case from the U.S. ....
www.justice.gov
... showing influence isn't always JUST aimed at politicians
Indictment also attached.
Two Men Plead Guilty To Acting As Illegal Agents Of The PRC Government And Bribery
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that JOHN CHEN and LIN FENG pled guilty to acting as unregistered agents of the government of the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) and bribing an Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) agent in connection...
Indictment also attached.
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All I can say is: we'll see ....
www.thecanadianpressnews.ca
Intelligence task force to monitor all future byelections for foreign interference
OTTAWA - The Liberal government says measures to monitor and assess foreign interference threats will be part of all future federal byelections, not just general elections.
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Name them.
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Sam Cooper strikes again ....
www.thebureau.news
www.thebureau.news
There's reports the now-independent Vuong (dropped from Team Red just before the 2021 election, but elected as an independent) got a "thanks, but no thanks" earlier this year from Team Blue when inquiring ....
globalnews.ca
Wonder why? 
China clandestinely targeting First Nations leaders to procure Canada's natural resources: NSICOP
The Bureau's analysis of NSICOP's Top Secret 2019 report points to Chinese threat networks across Canada and politicians likely named in NSICOP's bombshell 2024 review
www.thebureau.news
Toronto MP among the international Parliamentarians attending pro-Taiwan summit targeted by Beijing
IPAC's resolution to re-examine Taiwan's exclusion from United Nations signals growing support, Ambassador to Ottawa says
www.thebureau.news
Independent Toronto MP Kevin Vuong asks Poilievre to let him join Conservative caucus | Globalnews.ca
Independent Toronto MP Kevin Vuong says he is asking Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to let him join the Tory caucus.
globalnews.ca
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Again, no shit.Sam Cooper strikes again ....
China clandestinely targeting First Nations leaders to procure Canada's natural resources: NSICOP
The Bureau's analysis of NSICOP's Top Secret 2019 report points to Chinese threat networks across Canada and politicians likely named in NSICOP's bombshell 2024 reviewToronto MP among the international Parliamentarians attending pro-Taiwan summit targeted by Beijing
IPAC's resolution to re-examine Taiwan's exclusion from United Nations signals growing support, Ambassador to Ottawa says
Huh, the FN governments interference is an interesting tidbit. The recent foreign interference bill does include FN governments in the various institutions it's designed to protect via new foreign interference offences. I hadn't thought of the natural resources angle, but it immediately makes sense.
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We’ve been seeing it in BC, for years.
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One man's editorial opinion could be another man's interference? You be the judge (generally pro-left source, so apply whatever grain of salt you feel necessary) ...
pressprogress.ca
Source material (~11.5 minutes long, bits in English, but mostly in what I suspect is Hindi)
Well-Connected Pro-Modi Media Personality Calls On India to Support ‘Right-Wing Parties’ in Canada’s Next Election
Retired Indian military official says India needs to provide financial and political support to ‘think tanks and right-wing parties in Canada’
pressprogress.ca
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