By: Molly D
The Senate has been a part of Canada’s democratic system longer than Canada has been an independent nation. The Senate consists of 105 senators, who are appointed by the Governor General upon the Prime Minister’s request. It is the Senate’s purpose to re-examine bills and protect the interests of Canadians. Anyone with an elementary education should know these basic facts about Canadian Government. Whether or not you were awake when the teacher was going over this material is a completely different matter.Politics and the workings of government does not usually grab the attention of the average person, and the politics we do see tend to be centred more on the unfortunate crack cocaine addiction of a certain mayor. Another big political scandal that caught media attention was the 2013 Senate scandal. Two senators thus far have been arrested for illegally claiming thousands of dollars for personal expenses. The faith of many Canadians in the Senate has been lost after the 2013 Senate scandal. Although the aftermath of the scandal is still playing out, the discontent with the Senate is found nationwide, and a little bit of research shows that this unhappiness with our ancienct democratic institution is not unfounded.
For years, Canadians have asked for reform concerning the Senate, and Stephen Harper has promised these reforms to make the Senate more effiecient, but other political parties want to take it a step further. One of the NDP’s main platforms for the upcoming 2015 to abolish the Senate, and their website hosts a petition called ‘Roll Up The Red Carpet’, in which they intend to remove the Senate from Canada’s democratic system entirely. The petition has just under 30,000 signitures.
It is known that the Senate is not exactly the picture of efficiency, but the NDP petition states some very surprising facts about this piece of our parliament.
For example, the cost of the senate is over 92 million dollars per year.
With Canadians throwing millions, and I mean this quite literally, at the Senate one would assume that the money is going to good use. Considering that the last year the Senators worked approximately 71 days out of the year, it’s getting harder to believe that all the money that is put into the Senate is being put to good use.
The Senate does not consist only of bad qualities. It’s purpose is to represent the interests of all Canadians, and this includes minority groups, and gives a sober second thought to a bill that is well on its way to being passed. It’s easy to look at the Senate and only see the political scandals, the staggering amount of money getting pumped into it and the lovely salary that’s attached to only 71 working days, but the Senate is more than that.
We have senators raising awareness for human rights violations, giving minorities a voice and caused great things in the past. The fate of the Senate depends on which party comes into power next.
