[Newsbot]

Title: Harper appoints football player to senate
Category: Political
Posted By: Curtman
Date: 2010-12-20 12:55:26
Canadian

[Curtman]

$1:

Harper announced that the two vacancies in the Senate will be filled by Rev. Don Meredith of Ontario and Larry Smith of Quebec.

Meredith is the executive director and co-founder of the GTA Faith Alliance. Smith is a former football player with the Montreal Alouettes from 1972 to 1980. He was president and chief executive officer of the same team from 1997 to 2001 and again since 2004.

Stephen Harper Stephen Harper:

A Conservative government will not appoint to the Senate anyone who does not have a mandate from the people.

[QBC]

A Politician is a politician, is a politician.....

[Curtman]

QBC QBC:

A Politician is a politician, is a politician.....

$1:

"He is unequalled in Canadian history as the only prime minister to have made 27 Senate appointments in a single year and he beat (Conservative prime minister) Robert Borden who made 26 (in 1917),"

Some are worse than others.

[raydan]

Mind you, I met Larry Smith when I went to Bishop's University in the early 70s.
Practiced with him on the football field too.

Good guy, with a good head on his shoulders.
Don't know if politics will corrupt him like it does to pretty much everybody else though.

[Freakinoldguy]

All the opposition had to do was agree to an elected Senate. But oh no, that's not how it's done, it would take away the right of Prime Ministers to appoint Senators.

Well, they got their wish and the PM still has to power to make Senate appointments.

The only difference being is that the opposition is howling like gut shot dogs about the PM doing what they wanted to ensure remained his right.

They can't have it both freakin ways. And BTW the Liberal dominated Senate we've seen for the last decade or so, wasn't created by immaculate appointment. Somebody put them there.

The Senate should be gone. It's no longer a sober second thought for Canadian politics and has become a dinosaur with more perks and partisanship than the House of Lords, of which many of our Senators seem to think they belong.

[RUEZ]

Curtman Curtman:

$1:

Harper announced that the two vacancies in the Senate will be filled by Rev. Don Meredith of Ontario and Larry Smith of Quebec.

Meredith is the executive director and co-founder of the GTA Faith Alliance. Smith is a former football player with the Montreal Alouettes from 1972 to 1980. He was president and chief executive officer of the same team from 1997 to 2001 and again since 2004.

Stephen Harper Stephen Harper:

A Conservative government will not appoint to the Senate anyone who does not have a mandate from the people.

How do you suggest he fills those seats?

[QBC]

Freakinoldguy Freakinoldguy:

All the opposition had to do was agree to an elected Senate. But oh no, that's not how it's done, it would take away the right of Prime Ministers to appoint Senators.

Well, they got their wish and the PM still has to power to make Senate appointments.

The only difference being is that the opposition is howling like gut shot dogs about the PM doing what they wanted to ensure remained his right.

They can't have it both freakin ways. And BTW the Liberal dominated Senate we've seen for the last decade or so, wasn't created by immaculate appointment. Somebody put them there.

The Senate should be gone. It's no longer a sober second thought for Canadian politics and has become a dinosaur with more perks and partisanship than the House of Lords, of which many of our Senators seem to think they belong.

Like I said.....

$1:

A Politician is a politician, is a politician.....

[Public_Domain]

[Thanos]

As long as he doesn't appoint anyone who, like with certain Liberals, has his senatorial paycheque forwarded to their villa in Baja Mexico then I could care less.

Mis-leading headline anyway. Could have just as easily read 'Larry Smith, CFL player, CFL president, and publisher of the Montreal Gazetter'. Trimming it down to just 'football player' was a blatant bit of hackery to make it seem like the man's some kind of a moron instead of someone who's actually done and contributed something positive throughout most of his life.

[raydan]

...and he graduated from Bishop's University with a degree in economics before earning a Bachelor of Civil Law from McGill University while playing football for the Als.

[Zipperfish]

Welcome to the good life guys. Treated like royalty, cash up the yingyang and you never have to do a day's work.

[billypilgrim]

if i ever get appointed to the senate, hopefully the media will focus on my more recent accomplishments and not publish, "Prime minister Rick Mercer appoints Judo yellow-belt to senate."

[Proculation]

The nomination is temporary, like Michael Forter. Smith is going to quit senate to present himself at the next election for MP.

[Arctic_Menace]

What? A politician acting in his own interests to skew the bullshit and unelected senate to their own ends? Say it ain't so!



(Cue Harper defenders and cries of "well the Liberals did it too" in 3, 2, 1...)