His appointme nt of Canadians like B.C.’s Nancy Greene Raine, one of the country’s greatest athletes and a businesswoman who attended university but never obtained a degree, has had a marked affect on the typical qualifications of senators.
The Vancouver Sun analyzed the official biographies of all 100 sitting senators.
The 48 appointed by Harper’s predecessors have an average of 1.6 post-secondary degrees, diplomas and certificates each, and 85 per cent have at least one — putting them far ahead of the average Canadian.
The 52 appointed by Harper since 2006 average 1.1 post-secondary qualifications each, and 62 per cent have at least one — slightly below the 64-per-cent national average.
B.C. Liberal Senator Larry Campbell, despite warning in 2004 that Harper’s Tories were “barbarians at the gate,” said he has no problem with a lower-brow Senate that has fewer people like Liberal Serge Joyal, an expert art collector who has five university degrees.
“I would take experience over education any day,” said the ex-Vancouver mayor, who worked as a ditch digger and assembly line worker after high school before joining the RCMP.
Campbell earned his master’s in business administration part-time while working as a B.C. coroner in the 1980s and 1990s. But he said the coroner’s experience has helped him far more than the MBA in dealing in many areas.
Campbell, the inspiration for the television series Da Vinci’s Inquest, said his 30 years plus as a crime scene investigator was useful in his recent role as a member of a Senate subcommittee investigating alleged misspending by senators.
“It helps you sift through facts and do time lines, determining what’s important and what’s just noise.”
Ned Franks, a retired Queen’s University political scientist and avid Senate-watcher, said academic achievement is only one factor in assessing a senator’s qualifications.
“Legal experience isn’t the only thing the Senate needs. Experience in life is very helpful, as is a variety of professions and non-professions. Volunteer work is very useful.”
Raine, ex-schoolteacher Yonah Martin and former provincial cabinet minister Richard Neufeld were the British Columbians among Harper’s selections in 2008. That year’s list also includes Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau, the three Tory appointees at who are at the centre of an expenses scandal along with one-time Liberal Mac Harb.
Their alleged misspending has led to Harper ramping up efforts to reform or get rid of the unelected upper chamber.
“I have no college or university degrees, but I have the life skill of having my own business at 24 years of age,” Neufeld told The Vancouver Sun in an email, adding that he also managed a large division of a road construction company.
He said his 18 years in provincial politics included a stint as the longest-serving energy minister in B.C.’s history.
That experience, he said, serves him well as the chairman of the Senate’s energy, the environment and natural resources committee.
Martin, Canada’s first Korean-Canadian senator and holder of two university degrees, said her experience as an immigrant, educator, community volunteer and daughter of an Alzheimer’s victim directly relate to her work on the Senate’s social affairs committee.
Raine, the former Olympic gold medal skier who with husband Al developed tourism properties at the Whistler and Sun Peaks resorts in B.C., said her small business experience is vital.
“I attend tourism caucus meetings and watch for the impact of legislation on small business,” she said in an email.
While the number of lawyers in the Senate has fallen from 26 before Harper took power to 20 today, those who have legal training say that background is invaluable in understanding the implications of bureaucratic and legalistic language in legislation under study.
“My experience as a practicing lawyer of over 30 years and my experience in the court system have enabled me to be more effective,” said B.C. Liberal Mobina Jaffer.
Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Peter O'Neil
No comments:
Post a Comment