On targets

The NDP has released its latest ad, focusing on the Cons' broken Senate promises:



Of course, it's always a plus to see the NDP putting some work into challenging the Senate. But I do wonder about the subject matter chosen.

After all, there are two obvious lines of attack on how the Cons have handled the Senate. And it seems slightly off the NDP's ideal message to focus on personal scandal (the Canada Elections Act charges against Irving Gerstein) rather than anti-democratic abuses (in the form of Harper's unelected nonrepresentatives defeating multiple NDP bills passed by the House of Commons).

Conservatives. Illegal Activity. Repeat.

Kudos to the Director of Public Prosecutions for setting the record straight that yes, two of Stephen Harper's hand-picked Senate appointees are accused of illegal activity. Anybody taking bets on how long it'll be before we hear that when the future government does it, it's retroactively not illegal?

Membership has its privileges

Good thing Con Senator Irving Gerstein has a six-figure, publicly-funded salary to support both his Con fund-raising and his defence against the charges against him in the in-and-out scandal. After all, we'd sure hate for Gerstein to have to start begging for himself rather than for his benefactors.