Transcript Senate appointments: the “do not call, do not apply list”

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Senate appointments: the “do not call, do not apply list”
TORONTO - It seems that the
transitional, phase 1, system for
providing names to the Advisory
Board headed by Huguette Labelle
has a built in “fail safe” mechanism. The list that Madame Labelle
and colleagues will collect and
examine will be “non-binding” on
the Prime Minister and the Governor General.
Constitutionally, the governor General, on the advice of the
Prime Minister, makes appointments to the Senate. Just to be
clear, though, no matter how the
Prime Minister receives the information upon which he bases his
advice, it is he and he alone who
will determine who will be appointed to be Senator.
This does not mean that aspirants to the office cannot put their
names forward. If you do not put
your name forward you will surely
be overlooked. It also means that,
if you do, you may attract scrutiny
and commentary. The dynamics
of “lobbying” may not always be
predictable or pleasant.
For example, in 2012, the last remaining Senator of Italian origin
resigned unexpectedly a year before his term was up. Many lined
highly placed Conservative Party
sources. Only the Corriere Canadese gave them space, without
commentary.
It should be a safe bet that none
of them would be in a position to
muster the necessary support to
influence Justin Trudeau when all
of their efforts and resources, until
the election, were marshalled to
make themselves appealing to Stephen Harper. In vain it appears on
the evidence.
up for consideration as his replacement.
It was soon rumoured that he
had resigned to build support
for his protégé. It was also reported that the ever-pragmatic Prime Minister of the day, Stephen Harper, mindful that the political process requires people and/
or money to function efficiently
asked a simple question: does he
bring people or funds?
On hearing the word “neither”
…but… he moved on and appointed a virtual unknown from the
Filipino community. Presumably
in his regard the answer to one of
the questions was affirmative.
The Corriere Canadese at the
time expressed no editorial position. Neither in fact did OMNI
or CHIN, nor any of the organizations purporting to speak for the
Italian-Canadian community or
elements thereof.
Nonetheless,
Conservative-minded lobbyists and aspirants regrouped. Several other
names began to surface from
Today, again according to reliable sources, some of those loyalists to Stephen Harper are rallying around a preferred candidate
they propose to pass by Labelle’s
Advisory Board under the guise
of “community support”. Who
knows or cares to speculate on
their motives.
It is a slightly different story for
the other group rallying around
the ubiquitous and ambitious
Jason Kenney. They appear to be
throwing their weight behind a
former head of a community organization whose activity, at least
on line, has vanished into ether.
We think both groups need a cold
shower.