The single—albeit arguable—reason for un-elected legislative
bodies is to make sure that the pressures of faddish and shallow opinions don’t
drown out complex, difficult ideas. The quarter of a billion dollar Canadian
Senate supposedly exists as a refuge for sober second-thought, by sober if not
necessarily popular men and women.
That’s the theory.
Then what’s the point of an un-elected Senate that produces a
68-page “Now or Never” energy report that advertises its most significant
recommendation—enhanced east-west energy infrastructure—as a “no-brainer"?
The report also acknowledges that it’s important that Canada
do a much better job of containing C02 emissions. On this important concern, the
committee is unanimous. Neither a majority nor a minority of Senate committee
members, however, offers a straightforward position on any effective means to
meet that goal—a carbon tax or pricing mechanism, for instance.
The one legislative body that is supposed to tell us about
hard things, in fact, tells us that complex issues are simple and doesn’t
explain that changes in energy transportation and consumption could cost us
dearly.
Intelligent energy policy, in fact, isn’t a “no-brainer.”
The last thing Canada needs at the peak of a commodity boom is an enthused
committee of Senators offering patriotic bromides.
Canadian Senate reform, on the other hand, is a “no-brainer.” Let’s
do it.
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