XPost: can.politics, ont.politics, bc.politics   
   From: ConsRCons@govt.cda   
      
   No bloody wonder the Harper Cons and the Justin Liberals have been   
   supporting each other in the House over the years . . . both parties   
   have a propensity to kill and eat their own.   
      
   You BET that Justin caught wind of some more of his Liberal senators   
   about to be hung over 'senate expenses fraud'.  He wants to get upwind   
   of those investigations before they become his albatross.  What a way to   
   win the respect and admiration of current Liberal MPs and future MP   
   candidates.  The guy with the good hair and nice smile knows how to play   
   dirty - with his own party members.   
      
   ___________________________   
   Published: January 31, 2014 - THE CANADIAN PRESS   
      
      
   Liberal MPs seek to remove senators from party constitution   
      
   OTTAWA — Liberal members of Parliament are seeking to formally sever   
   ties with the scandal-plagued Senate by having all references to   
   senators removed from the party’s constitution.   
      
   Liberal leader Justin Trudeau announced this week that he was dumping 32   
   senators from the Liberal caucus in an effort to eliminate partisanship   
   and patronage, and return the upper chamber to its original purpose as a   
   place of sober second thought.   
      
   But the Liberal party constitution still lists senators as members of   
   caucus, as well as automatic delegates at party conventions. It also   
   says there is supposed to be at least one senator always sitting on a   
   powerful internal committee that helps develop Liberal election   
   platforms, though the party said there hasn’t been an active senator on   
   the committee in some time.   
      
   Deputy Liberal leader Ralph Goodale said removing all mentions of   
   senators from the constitution is an administrative step needed to   
   fulfill Trudeau’s vision of a less partisan Red Chamber.   
      
   To formalize the move, Goodale, national caucus chair Francis   
   Scarpaleggia, House leader Dominic Leblanc and House whip Judy Foote   
   have written to Liberal Party president Mike Crawley asking the party’s   
   national board of directors to start working to amend the constitution.   
      
   “The Constitution does identify clear roles and responsibilities for   
   caucus which need to be adjusted to reflect our new caucus reality,”   
   reads the letter, which was obtained from Trudeau’s office.   
      
   “We urge the National Board to develop a process for amending the   
   (Liberal Party of Canada) Constitution to remove reference to Senators   
   and to operate immediately in a manner that is consistent with only   
   elected Members of Parliament being part of the LPC National Caucus.”   
      
   The NDP accused Trudeau Friday of breaking his party’s own rules by   
   unilaterally excluding senators from caucus without getting the Liberal   
   constitution changed first.   
      
   Any constitutional amendment requires support from two-thirds of   
   delegates at a national convention.   
      
   “I think this shows that the Liberal leader drew this up on the back of   
   a napkin,” said NDP deputy leader Nathan Cullen. “What he suggested on   
   Wednesday was illegal in his constitution. God help us if he ever has to   
   interpret the Canadian constitution.”   
      
   But Liberals rushed to Trudeau’s defence, insisting the Liberal leader   
   does indeed have the power to decide who is part of caucus.   
      
   “The constitution is clear in terms of the leader is the one that   
   determines who is in caucus,” said  Crawley. “It’s the leader’s purview   
   to determine what comprises caucus.”   
      
   Either way, it could be several years before the change is formalized.   
      
   Any amendment requires support from two-thirds of delegates at a   
   national convention, and while a convention will be held in Montreal in   
   three weeks, the deadline for submitting proposed constitutional   
   amendments has already passed.   
      
   Crawley said the board of directors will meet next week to discuss   
   proposed amendments, and there are mechanisms in place to hold an   
   emergency convention and amend the constitution, as happened following   
   the 2011 federal election when the party agreed to put off the   
   leadership race by two years.   
      
   But he didn’t believe there was a sense of urgency, and that the party   
   could wait for the next Liberal convention in 2016.   
      
   “Can the party in practice operate in a way that’s aligned with the   
   decision that’s been made, and constitutionalize those changes at the   
   next convention?” he said. “My sense going in is that we will be able to   
   do that, but we need to confirm that.”   
      
   Confusion had followed Trudeau’s announcement Wednesday that he was   
   ejecting 32 senators from the party caucus.   
      
   The senators rebranded themselves the Senate Liberal caucus, and said   
   Trudeau couldn’t stop them from calling themselves Liberals because he   
   couldn’t strip them of their party membership.   
      
   Removing references to the senators from the constitution means they   
   will remain members, but without any special standing in the party.   
      
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        “It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save   
   the environment.”    ― Ansel Adams   
      
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   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)