A Canadian on Politics

OTTAWA — The youngest senator in the upper chamber also has the poorest attendance record for this session of Parliament.

Conservative Sen. Patrick Brazeau, 37, was absent for 25 per cent of the 72 sittings between June 2011 and April 2012, the Senate attendance register shows.

By the end of that period, the Quebecer was four days away from being fined. Senators are allowed to miss up to 21 days in each parliamentary session for religious holidays, family illness or obligations, and funerals and grief.

They can also be away on public business, such as travel or a parliamentary delegation, as long it was unavoidable.

After that, they can be fined $250 for each day missed.

The records for May and June have not been submitted yet.

Between June 2011 and April 2012, Brazeau also missed 65 per cent of meetings at the aboriginal peoples committee on which he sits.

And he was away for 31 per cent of the meetings of the human rights committee, where he is deputy chair.

The senator, appointed in 2008 by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, sent an email response to a request for comment.

“The very simple answer to your question with respect to my attendance or lack thereof is for personal matters,” said Brazeau, former national chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples.

He did not elaborate, but later posted a public message on Twitter directed to this reporter: “while u smile Jen, others suffer. Change the D to a B in your last name and we’re even! Don’t mean it but needs saying.”

The reporter’s last name?  Ditchburn.  

Senator Brazeau, that is not what needs saying.  What needs saying is:

“Effective immediately, I, Patrick Brazeau, hereby resign….”

k, thanks.

Please see some of these blogs for more global coverage:

ShortformBlog, Pantsless Progressive, National Post (and many many more, that was just off the top of my head) as well as follow the news hashtag, the Japan hashtag, and the tsunami hashtag

Canada’s west coast was hit with tsunami waves of up to one metre Friday morning, but shoreline communities escaped relatively unscathed.

No damage was reported from the tsunami despite sections of the B.C. coast recording the rise in water, the waves generated by the 8.9-magnitude earthquake that devastated Japan overnight.

Glen Plummer, at B.C.’s Provincial Emergency Program, said all waves were less than one metre high, but officials early Friday were still “warning people to stay away, and out of the water.” The West Coast and Alaska Warning Center had issued a tsunami watch for parts of British Columbia.

In Japan, at least 1,000 people were believed to have been killed by the earthquake and related tsunami that hit that country’s east coast.

No Canadians were known to have been injured or killed, despite there being 1,512 Canadian citizens registered with the embassy in Japan.

A statement from Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada said officials there “are actively working to determine the impact on any Canadians that may be affected, and stand ready to provide consular assistance to Canadian citizens in need.”

While many countries, as well as the United Nations, have chimed in with suggestions on how the world might apply pressure on Col. Moammar Gadhafi, who turned the air force against his own people in the wake of massive antigovernment protests, Canada has remained mum on the issue.

Just a few thoughts on this -

1. I don’t know of MANY countries which have imposed sanctions on Libya.  Peru comes to mind.  Britain and Switzerland are seizing funds.  Anywhere else?  The UN is apparently waiting for proof of aerial attacks before imposing air sanctions and are making recommendations, but that’s as far as we’ve gotten.

2. This is an incredibly Canada-centric article - which is really ironic since we’re talking about sanctions meant to help ANOTHER COUNTRY.  I get the impression they didn’t have enough for a full article after the phrase “Canada has kept mum on the issue”, and after they completed the traditional Libya and UN update, they needed more, so how it would benefit CANADA to impose these sanctions apparently was appropriate?  I dunno.  I’d like to see and read more about Canada’s involvement in the UN, and how we might improve our involvement there, but doing it on the metaphorical backs of the Libyans seems wrong.

3.  I’m sorry but A POLITICAL STATEMENT is STILL A STATEMENT.  Sanctions, please.  The more countries that do it, the more likely we can pressure countries who WOULD have an impact to follow suit.  G8, I’m looking at you.