Jacques Demers, Senator

No, he's not the new coach of the Ottawa Senators. He's been appointed to Canadian Senate.

Mods can move this to politics if they feel it's appropriate, but I'm guessing it won't be too controversial of a thread & it might be missed over there.

 

Hockey players in the House of Commons and the Senate have a long tradition in Canada.

Hell, PM Jean Chretien offered Jean Beliveau the office of The Governor General.

 

So senators aren't elected up there?

 

Is he able to read now?

 

They used to not be elected here either until the 17th Amendment was ratified in 1913. Before that, U.S. Senators were sent to Washington by state legislatures. A few states (starting with Oregon) began holding direct elections in the early 1900s but it took a constitutional amendment to make direct elections the law.

 

I knew that, though not the exact year it changed.

I didn't know that Canada still appointed theirs though.

 

friends and cronies of the PM.

 

More or less but despite the fact that it's anachronistic as hell, there are some good people sitting: Romeo D'Allliare, Joyce Fairbairn, Michael Meighen, Michael Pitfield and, of course, Frank "The Big M" Mahovlich.

I kinda like the Senat

 

the former mayor of Vancouver is a good senator as well Larry Campbell.

For the Canadians out there, if you've ever watched Davinci's Inquest on CBC Larry Campbell is who that show was based on.

 

I like that show....

 

Jacques always seemed like an interesting guy, one who was beloved in Indianapolis when he coached the short-lived WHA team here.

It's probably a good thing he's not an American senator, as he'd have a bunch of people screaming "YOU'VE NEVER READ THE BILL!!!!!" at him.

 

Demers has a great gift with people. He's got the ability to make you feel like the most important person in the room -- regardless of how crowded the room is, or what your stature is in that room.
One of the nicest guys in hockey I have ever met. Mock him for his inability to read, but imagine the courage it took the man to admit that. He's 65 years old and people who worked closest with him never knew it. He could have taken his secret to his grave. Instead, he wrote a book and has become an advocate for illiteracy.