Now, here's a sound-bite worth listening to. It's Senator Abbott putting out a call to action directed at his fellow senators:
"Let us take care that no temporary fit of prejudice or passion, injurious to our country or disadvantageous to our interests is allowed to force a measure through this Parliament without giving to the people a further opportunity for considering it..."
Well said, indeed. All the more enchanting since Senator Abbott spoke in 1890. Some things never change (nor should they 
). H/T Scott Ross for sharing the speech.
Hey: someone should send this quote from Senator Abbott to Stephen Harper. His own 'temporary fit of prejudice' to ram thorugh his very partisan and ideological Senate reforms would be 'injurious to our country'.
Harper may like partisan gamemanship so much in the House that he wants to replicate it in the Senate too. But many of us like the idea of a less partisan, reflective and consultative process for finalizing important legislation.
Into all things politics, policy and parliamentary.
Great post by Scott Ross. And timely too.
What struck me most was his comment (echoing Senator Abbott), was this one: 'The Senate is an object of criticism because it is the institution Canadians know the least about.'
Sad and still true more than a hundred years later! Even our top parliamentary and policy reporters and media pundits often say glaringly misinformed things about the Senate (whatever your politics).
I find that Canadians, and the Canadian media, seem to know more about how the US Senate functions, and who the US Senators are, than their own institution.
