Wednesday December 11, 2013  subscription options  Your Citizen,
Your Way    What's the big idea?  Brent Braaten, Photographer
Senator Scott Tannas, with his motorhome behind him, is on tour
across western Canada and made a stop in Prince George Tuesday.
Canada's newest senator has a big idea to revitalize the
beleaguered institution.  During a visit to Prince George on
Tuesday, Alberta Conservative Senator Scott Tannas said the
Upper House of Parliament has the ability to add value to
Canadian democracy, but first needs its mandate reshaped to
focus on, well, big ideas.  "I think the most important thing
the Senate could do is take problems in Canada - and we have
lots of them - that take a really long time to solve because
they're complicated or they're controversial or they just are
going to take a lot of thought and then work to bring people
together, form a consensus and ultimately have that result in
legislation," he said.  Tannas used the example of Aboriginal
affairs, which he said the House of Comm