Layton excoriates Harper on Senate

The Globe and Mail:

NDP Leader Jack Layton is stressing the life and work backgrounds of his 103 MPs, as the group dominated by political rookies met face to face for the first time on Parliament Hill.

In a speech that was light on specific policy issues, Mr. Layton highlighted his team and then criticized Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision to appoint three failed Conservative candidates to the Senate.

“Just look at Stephen Harper’s first act since the election. What was Stephen Harper’s very first priority?” he asked.

“It wasn’t to get down to work on improving health care, was it? It wasn’t to strengthen pensions, was it? And it certainly wasn’t to clean up Ottawa.

“No, Stephen Harper’s very first post-election priority was to reward failed Conservative candidates with high-paying Senate appointments,” he said.

Mr. Layton said the appointments of Larry Smith, Fabian Manning and Josée Verner display a total lack of respect for the voters in Quebec and Newfoundland who rejected those candidates.

“At the start of this new chapter in Canadian political history, Stephen Harper had the chance to turn the page on the old, cynical politics of the past. Instead, he did the opposite,” said Mr. Layton.

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