OH BOO HOO!
Nov. 9 — Donald Plett, Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) in the Senate openly complained about how the Parliamentary Protective Service (PPS) isn’t doing enough to keep Members of Parliament and Senators safe during protests calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.
Plett told his colleagues in the Internal Economy Committee about his drive to work a few days prior. Towards the end of his commute, as he was on Wellington Street, a group were protesting for a cease-fire in Gaza. According to Plett, the group would stop vehicles, and after the driver would take a pamphlet, the protesters made way for the car to keep driving.
When protesters made their way to him, Plett “defiantly” did not accept a pamphlet. “They were laying on the hood of the car and they were trying to prevent me from moving. And of course, there were all sorts of cameras going off and I’m sure I’m on many pictures now on the Gaza Strip or wherever.” It’s important to note that this whole debacle did not last very long and he soon was able to continue his drive to work.
While openly complaining about being temporarily inconvenienced, Palestinian-Canadians were still trapped in Gaza, an active warzone. Atrocities continue to be committed against civilians and the CPC continues to say not much at all in regards to a ceasefire.
What rubs me the wrong way in Plett’s tangent is he’s acting like he was just some guy headed to the office. Plett has been a senator since 2009, and Leader of the Opposition since 2019.
It’d be one thing entirely if he was just some random bureaucrat, but he’s not. He holds a lot of power and even though he is not elected, he is still a representative and accountable to the people as this is a democracy.
It’s our taxes that fund his annual $200,000+ salary and because Senators in Canada aren’t elected, he will continue to sit in this job for another two years until he turns 75, when he is forced to retire in accordance with Canadian law. When he retires, he will get a pension of nearly $50,000 a year for the rest of his life!
You may be thinking; as I was, what about the Freedom Convoy? What did he have to say about that during his tangent to his colleagues?
“[PPS] seem to have enough staff to stop all hot tub parties and barbeques when we had some friendly protesters here, and now they don’t have enough staff when many of us feel very unsafe.”
Donald Neil Platt, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
Ah yes, that’s about right. Those friendly protesters in early 2022 who danced on the tomb of the unknown soldier; waved the occasional swastika; harassed food bank employees; vandalized the statue of Canadian hero Terry Fox; and harrassed multiple MPs and Senators and their employees with instances of actual human feces being thrown at an employee.
Those same “friendly protesters” not only blocked traffic on Wellington Street so much that the whole street had to be closed for over a year, but they shut down entire border crossings. According to Plett’s own admission, the protesters he faced last week were only temporarily stopping people and making them take a pamphlet.
If the Honourable Donald Neil Plett wants PPS to increase security around Parliament Hill, he can take it out of his own damn salary.
This whole situation highlights a greater issue than one whiney Senator; it highlights a willingly deaf CPC–at least in the Senate. A CPC that’d much rather hold its hands over its ears and go “LA LA LA LA! I CAN’T HEAR YOU!” than actually listen to Canadians.
Protesters should have the right to show politicians their side of the story. The fact that a Senator feels comfortable to stand up and not only complain about it but say that PPS should do something about it is a sign that something is terribly wrong in our system.
Politicians are accountable to the people; the people are not accountable to politicians.
