The Senate has delayed for eight months its final vote on restrictions to food marketing to children
By Peter Mansbridge and Yves Savoie “Delay always breeds danger; and to protract a great design is often to ruin it.” Miguel de Cervantes put this astute observation in the mouth of his most famous literary character, Don Quixote. Though written more than 400 years ago, the lesson applies very well right now to the…
A bill that would protect children is languishing in the Senate. We need it to tackle childhood obesity and chronic diseases
If you’ve ever watched the hit TV series Mad Men, you’ll remember that everybody smoked. Everyone. Everywhere. It was a great show, in part, because it was like a trip back in time, showing us what life was like in the American advertising industry in the early 1960s. Smoking was just a part of normal…
Bill C-48 is the kind of extraordinary circumstance that requires the Senate fulfil its role as a regional counterbalance to the House
The Senate’s fundamental job is to review legislation while respecting its regions. In that sense, it is a unique part of Canadian Parliament. The Senate is a built-in safety valve to protect regional interests against the majoritarian impulses of the elected chamber. It ensures that all parts of this diverse country have a meaningful voice…
Let’s make industry’s job of marketing to kids easier by not letting them do it in the first place
I was as happy as anyone with the release of the revised Canada’s Food Guide last month. There wasn’t much to complain about and, in fact, much to praise. This is as true for what was in the guide – sensible guidance around cooking more and consuming less processed food – as well as what…
The health of our children is at stake. Bill S-228 should be brought to a vote in the upper chamber
The Senate of Canada has several key roles and makes important contributions to the development of the country’s most pivotal public policy initiatives. But lately, several key government and private members’ bills have suffered the consequences of political theatre as we enter into the throes of an election year. In recent months, we’ve seen a…
Bill C-46 would contribute to public safety, help address the serious court backlog problem and save taxpayers a lot of money
Marjory LeBreton, a former leader of the Conservatives in the Senate, has a family tragedy in her past: her daughter and grandson were killed by a drunk driver. LeBreton is unhappy that her former Senate colleagues have voted to gut Bill C-46, which gives police the right to stop a vehicle and demand that the…
The senator has enabled all of us to take the first step in honestly discussing race and culture
Sen. Lynn Beyak was recently removed from the Conservative caucus for saying and publicizing things that many people think are true. This has emboldened her opponents, and some Indigenous activists are now suggesting that Beyak be thrown out of the Senate and investigated for thought crimes. A year ago, Beyak had the audacity to assert…
The sleeping giant has only just started to twitch. If that giant is fully awake, the consequences for democracy could be disastrous
Is Justin Trudeau a pyromaniac? He set the match under Liberal senators in 2013 when he expelled them from his caucus and set the Senate alight. It is truly ablaze now. Hell hath no fury like Liberal senators scorned. Some observers hailed Trudeau's action as bold and brave, but opponents saw it as a way…
Senator's twisted perspective on residential schools and the horrible suffering students went through should not be accepted by the party or other Canadians
Canada’s last Indian residential school closed in 1996. The residential schools experience is not ancient history. Nor was the residential school experience positive, despite comments from Conservative Sen. Lynn Beyak. It’s easy to be blasé about the topic when you’ve never been around First Nation and Metis peoples who attended these institutions. It’s easy to…
What O’Leary and Trudeau seem incapable of understanding is that the Senate plays a role vital to the success of our country
Just when you thought the state of the debate about reforming Canada’s Senate couldn’t get any sadder, federal Conservative Party leadership hopeful Kevin O’Leary has floated the idea of selling Senate seats. Serious or not, O’Leary’s proposal is in keeping with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s vision of the Senate as little more than a blue-ribbon…