As Mike Duffy's senatorial career implosion peaked this week, I was left wondering if all was really as it appeared, or if something far more complex was taking place. If Duffy -- and Wallin, and Brazeau, and others -- are part of a some plan to discredit the Senate to the point that all citizens demand its abolition.

The arrest by the RCMP of two individuals who were allegedly planning out a terrorist attack on a VIA Rail train will only heighten our level of anxiety as the scare hits closer to home. Reintroducing these provisions seems nothing more than an attempt by the Conservative government to further prove its 'tough on terror' credentials. But when our laws appear to be working -- results of brave and successful law enforcement operations -- attempting to play on our fears by using emotion over reason does not do justice to the seriousness this discussion this requires.

This societal need to prosecute potty mouths and anything deemed offensive has become a popular trend in Canada. Most recently this has been transcended into anti-bullying laws introduced in legislatures all over the country.We have to be careful about legislating offensiveness. We cannot allow the government to decide what subjective comments are acceptable and which should land you in prison. Britain is taking steps to restore absolute freedom of speech, so should Canada.

In recent months, for a variety of reasons, the atmosphere in the Chamber has been difficult. Lately, it appears that all sides have, at different times, strayed quite far from the flexibility, accommodation and balance that ideally ought to exist in this place. Our electors expect all Members to make greater efforts to curb disorder and unruly behaviour.

The Conservative government has a disturbing habit of introducing significant changes to Canadian public policy by sleight of hand. Bill C-377 would force every labour organization in Canada to file detailed financial information. It is more about helping employers, the Conservative Party and special interest groups with close ties to them. If passed, Bill C-377 will tip the balance of labour relations in Canada.

Question Period tends to highlight exactly what is wrong with much that takes place in the House of Commons. Daily insults, putdowns, and factual misrepresentation are quite common. When you combine an inept opposition with a government side that shows little respect for the intelligence of Canadians, you end up with something that is so bad that you can't even call it a gong show.

This coming week, Parliament will vote on my amendments to Bill C-299, Conservative legislation that would impose a mandatory minimum sentence of five years on people who kidnap children. It would seem as though this would be just the kind of issue on which members of all parties could collaborate in good faith. Instead, however, this bill has become a prime example of how excessive haste -- and an uncooperative attitude toward parliamentary opposition -- can make for bad law and bad policy. It should be deeply troubling to Canadians that the laws governing our criminal justice system are being altered quite so nonchalantly. Surely, despite our differences on principle and policy we can at least agree that any proposed changes to the Criminal Code should be the object of serious scrutiny and debate.

Last night the first presidential candidates' debate of the 2012 election took place in Denver. For political junkies the debate was jarring: neither debater behaved according to the expectations set over the past several months. Obama was tongue-tied at several points. Romney seemed presidential. It is the phase of U.S. presidential campaigns that most closely resembles the Stanley Cup finals. Romney has the advantage for now, but Obama has been to the finals before and is the reigning champion. Game on!

Barbara George was a decorated law enforcement officer with an unblemished 30-year track record. Then in 2007, the House of Commons found her in contempt of Parliament for allegedly "misleading" the Standing Committee on Public Accounts.None of what George was accused of was true. She vowed not to rest until her name was cleared. Last week, she came a little closer. Now is the time for the House of Commons to apologize, and return some piece of mind to Barbara George and her family.

Parliament resumes this week. MPs have returned from their 308 ridings rested, connected with their constituents and ready for another round of political gamesmanship. We here at Samara thought it was a good time to revisit some of the ideas for Parliamentary reform put forward by those who've survived politics on the front lines: the Members of Parliament themselves.

The Komagata Maru incident occurred during a time in Canadian history where there was a deep-seated prejudice against minorities and immigrants. NDP MP Jasbir Sandhu's motion today urged the Government of Canada to officially apologize in Parliament to the South Asian community in the House of Commons. I commend him.

The New Orleans Saints has been charged with paying "bounties" to any of its players who targeted and inflicted serious injuries on opposing teams. This is an indication of how western societies have grown careless of standards that once characterized our public attitudes. Just look at the Canadian parliament.

It's disconcerting to read that members of all three main federal parties agree that the current committee system is seriously flawed. One long-time Liberal MP, Mauril Belanger, quit a committee on which he had served for nearly two decades, saying it was no longer possible to accomplish anything in what had become a hyper-partisan environment.

With a new political year on the horizon, each of the parties in the House of Commons could stand to make a few New Year’s resolutions. In addition ...

Canadian democracy is in grave danger. Or so say lots of pundits, journalists and academics who keep warning us about how the politicians in Ottawa are slowly eroding away our traditional parliamentary democratic institutions.

OTTAWA - The House of Commons has passed a bill that would expand the chamber by 30 seats and give fairer representation to the country's fastest grow...

Enough already. We need to spend the next four years building up the civic literacy of Canadians so that they too will understand that Stephen Harper is actively dismantling our democratic processes.

Parliament has grown dysfunctional, with too little transparency. But while reform is desirable, the result may not be. Consider the "new" process for approving Supreme Court of Canada nominees. The only feisty moments occurred when an NDP MP challenged Moldaver over his inability to speak French.

Control from the backrooms was always there, but never to the extent that it is now. Until the present generation of MPs, especially in the Conservative caucus, stand up to PMO (and other MPs to their respective leader's offices), not much will happen to improve their lot or that of MPs in general.