New Seniors Council Announced

So the Harper government had decided to court the senior vote by brining in a Seniors' Advisory Council that is tasked to provide the government advice about senior's issues. On the face of it this is a good idea as the voice of seniors is often drowned out in the background noise that is politics. I have some concerns though, which only time will allay. Sadly, these concerns are only in place because of the governing party and their lack of transparency and little to do with the mandate of the council.

Concern #1:
The council is appointed by the Governor in Council office, meaning it's appointed by the Prime Minister. Given that the Conservatives have been busy stacking every board and council of government with Tory bag men, this sadly means that the Seniors' Council will likely be turned into a retirement home for the party faithful. If this happens, and I hope that what small shred of integrity that might be left in Harper's government prevents it from happening, the Council will perform no useful function. If filled with the party faithful, it will only provide the "advice" the government wants, and not advice that is in the best interests of seniors.

Concern #2:
There is no requirement for a senior to actually be appointed to the council. The members have to have some experience working with seniors, but there's no requirement that even one member of the council be an actual senior. Not that this would necessarily be a drawback, as many advocates for a cause aren't necessarily a member of the group, but the optics of making this grand gesture are a little fuzzy if you don't even have a senior on the board. It's kind of like having a council on women's rights, but not having any women on the council.

As I have stated, I hope that somewhere in the blind lust for power that has consumed the Harper government there's a mote of integrity left and that they'll put aside partisanship and not just go down the party membership roll for council members. Heck even a broken clock is right twice a day. Unfortunately the actions of Harper and his government of the past few months leave me with little hope that they will do the right thing. It, unfortunately, would be a surprise if the council wasn't stacked with party hacks and people with tenuous connections to seniors. I hope I'm wrong because our seniors deserve better.