Second Thots

In justifying his view about abolishing the Senate -- something over which he has no direct jurisdiction, by the way -- Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said the body doesn't currently reflect the population advantage his province has over everyone else.

Well, duh?

Isn't that supposed to be the point of the Senate? To balance the regional distribution that favours provinces like Ontario in the House of Commons?

For McGuinty to suggest his province -- and mine -- should advocate for the complete wiping out of a government institution simply because it doesn't adhere to his chauvinistic views of what a democratic body ought to look like, suggests to me he doesn't know the first thing about what's good for this country.

And while we're at it, his counterpart in Saskatchewan, Premier Lorne Calvert, added his wisdom to the mix yesterday, reported in the same article linked to above, when he suggested it doesn't matter if senators are elected or appointed since the body is ineffectual as it is.

Uh, news flash, Mr. Calvert: If senators become elected, the body is no longer ineffectual.

Makes you wonder what Harper got himself into by promising to negotiate with these characters to solve the imbalances of the federation. An Ontario chauvinist and a Saskatchewan dunderhead. Terrific.