An Historic Day In Canadian Politics.

Stephen Harper’s unelected Senate majority (not outright, but they are the party with the most members) has voted down a bill that was only at second reading. This bill, which was tabled by the NDP, was passed by the Parliament of Canada with the support of the opposition parties back in May. It has sat on the order paper for months now, 193 days, without any Conservative Senators speaking to the bill. Somehow, it came to the point where a vote had to be held (most including the media say it definitely looks like the Conservative kicked this bill while it was down, while the Conservatives are doing the predictable thing and blaming everyone else). Marjory LeBreton, who heads the government in the Senate, says that this was a gift to the Conservatives in the Senate because they didn’t support the bill and the government didn’t support the bill, so they voted it down without a second thought.  She seems just happy with the fact that she was put there without a vote.

What does Harper think about this vote? Actually, he said that it was a bad bill and should have been voted down, even though it didn’t get to committee and didn’t even have a chance to come back to Parliament for any amendments that could have been made. No, the unelected Conservative senate majority decided that the three parties who represent the majority of Canadians DON’T represent their anti-climate change, climate denier, big oil and gas subsidy supporting agenda. This bill may not have been the best till but it’s a start. Canada continues to lag behind Europe and perhaps even China in even trying to change it’s sorry record in trying to combat climate change. What a sad day when both democracy and climate change accountability are stuck down on the same day.

Cross Posted at Progress Now!