Senator of the week – Senator Joseph Day – Sober Second Thought Award

Canadians can sleep soundly this holiday season knowing that Liberal Senator Joseph Day is hard at work making sure that federal legislation reflects the interests of oft-forgotten constituents … constituents like our nation’s conspiracy theorists.

For the past 178 days, legislation intended to protect consumers from dangerous products – legislation adopted by elected MPs in the House of Commons -- has been held up by unelected Senators.

In committee hearings on the bill, Senators were told by one witness to ignore the campaign against the bill by the Canadian Coalition for Health Freedom. Prominent environmentalist Rick Smith cited the group’s website as arguing “that 9/11 was caused not by terrorists but by a global conspiracy run by David Rockefeller” and that “a global conspiracy” is responsible for the H1N1 virus. (Standing Senate Committee on
Social Affairs, Science and Technology, 29 October 2009)

Amazingly, Liberal Senator Day, the lead critic of the bill, rushed to the defence of the conspiracy theorists: “I think it's incumbent upon us now, since they've been described as loony people, to have an opportunity to be here and to represent themselves."

For his service to Canada’s most prolific and imaginative letter-writers, taxpayers were charged $283,000 in office and travel expenses by Senator Day last year, in addition to his $132,300 salary.

Sober second thought, indeed.

“Senator of the Week” is a project by New Democrats to highlight the dubious achievements of Canada’s 105 unelected and unaccountable Senators.

Stephen Harper vowed he would “not name appointed people to the Senate.” Yet as Prime Minister he has broken that promise – 29 times and counting. As a result, Canadians are paying 220 percent more for Senators that Harper once called “a relic of the 19th century.”