IPOLITIUCS commentary

The problem is the PM’s abuse of power — not the Senate

Could Samuel Beckett have been thinking about Canada’s federal politics when he wrote his famous tragicomedy Waiting for Godot?

It’s possible. It is absurdist theatre, after all. The main characters talk disjointedly, going round and round without making a point or much sense. In the opening scene, Estragon gives up trying to pull on his boot, uttering the memorable thematic line, “Nothing to be done”.

That line sums up the still-unfolding Senate scandal. Behind all the furor of accusations and denials there is a dismaying sense of futility.

The suspension of the offending senators changes nothing. The hazy expense rules remain; the ethos of boundless entitlement in the Red Chamber persists. No authority exists — not even that of our omnipotent prime minister — which can dictate that the Senate must change its ways. Under the constitution, the Senate is autonomous and self-regulating: Change can come only if the shamed senators decide to enact it. Whatever they decide, it won’t happen quickly.

http://www.ipolitics.ca/2013/11/12/the-problem-is-the-pms-abuse-of-power-not-the-senate/