Yikes! Patrick Brazeau faints in the Senate

It appears that Former Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau fainted in the Senate today as he rose to debate Prime Minister Mark Carney’s fast-tracked major projects bill.

It’s been a scorcher of a week in Ontario with temperatures with “dangerously hot” weather in Ottawa peaking at 35°C on Monday.

The bill being debated in the Senate grants the Carney government powers to accelerate project approvals and has been criticized by Indigenous and environmental groups for bypassing proper consultation and democratic process.

Brazeau, an indigenous Senator, was rising to ask a question to Conservative Senate leader Leo Housakos. Indigenous groups are concerned the Carney bill doesn’t mention “free, prior and informed consent.” Paramedics attended to Brazeau who was reportedly conscious. Staff say he appears to be recovering.

Patrick Brazeau was originally appointed to the Senate of Canada in 2008 by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He was born in Maniwaki, Quebec. Brazeau is a member of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation and became one of the youngest senators in Canadian history. Before his appointment, he served as the National Chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, advocating for the rights of off-reserve Indigenous peoples. He’s been an outspoken and polarizing figure on Parliament Hill and has often clashed with other Indigenous leaders. He famously participated in a charity boxing match with then-future Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – which was broadcast on Sun News.

Brazeau’s political career has seen its share of controversy. In 2013, he was suspended from the Senate without pay over a housing expense scandal and later faced charges in unrelated matters in Gatineau, Quebec. The scandals significantly impacted his public image.

Patrick Brazeau now sits in the Senate as a non-affiliated member and advocates for Indigenous issues, alcohol addiction awareness, and mental health.

UPDATE: He’s doing better.

Patrick Brazeau gets a haircut from Justin Trudeau
Patrick Brazeau gets a haircut from Justin Trudeau

HuffPo shows its cards

Here’s the latest leftwing click-bait from the Huffington Post on offer today,

Stephen Harper’s Wireless Petition Probably Just Trolling For Your Personal Data

Prime Minister Stephen Harper wants you to know he’s on your side in the epic battle of consumers against Big Telecom’s big wireless bills.
 
Or maybe it’s the Conservative Party trying to get your name and email address, so they can spam you with political ads.
 
Either way, a post appeared on Harper’s Facebook page Wednesday linking to a Conservative Party petition called “Standing Up For Wireless Consumers.”
 
The Facebook post urges people to “sign the petition if you believe Canadians will benefit from more choice and greater competition among wireless providers.”

Oh, is that so? Here’s Marc Garneau’s Liberal Party data-collection petition on Usage Based Billing. Huffington Post stories about the Liberal Party’s creepy data collection efforts? 0.

And here’s an NDP petition (data collection website) against extra fees on cellphone bills. Huffington Post cynicism about political outreach by the NDP? Non-existent.

I tried to find a Green Party petition on wireless usage, but my wifi signal gave out.

Here, Huffington Post writes about Avaaz’s data-collection website for collecting the email addresses of Sun News haters. As a cynical news story about the political process of issue identification and data collection? No! It was written as a news story about the critiques of Sun News.

There is a trend among Ottawa journalists to write about the political processes as if they were recently unearthed from some dank pit from behind Karl Rove’s creepy house (the one with the unhinged screen door that has the tear). These tried-and-true political tactics are repackaged to ignorant readers in an alarm-raising tone.

BREAKING NEWS! Did you know that Conservatives do GOTV?

BREAKING NEWS! Did you know that Conservatives keep a database of their supporters?

BREAKING NEWS! Did you know that Conservatives call people to identify their levels of support?

BREAKING NEWS! Conservatives use American-style robocalls!

BREAKING NEWS! Did you know that Conservatives use social advertising on segments to test messaging?

BREAKING NEWS! Did you know that Conservatives use petitions to do issue identification?

BREAKING NEWS! Any political party that hopes to win an election in the modern era will do all of the above.

BREAKING NEWS! Obama does it too? Well, nevermind then. He’s doing the best he can.