There’s unanimous agreement in this country that the Canadian Senate is a democratic joke. I mean, what could be more undemocratic than a body composed of Prime Ministerial nominees with the power to block legislation. A body of irremovable and therefore unaccountable individuals with a virtually lifelong mandate. To put it squarely, it’s archaic.
The role of the senate is enshrined in the original 1867 Constitution. For that reason, any changes to framework of the institution would require a constitutional amendment which would take years of negotiations and still pose little chance of success. It would Meech and Charlettown all over again.
A much better plan would be to leave the Senate untouched and let it continue its role of absorbing “expired” MPs and friends of the Prime Minister. Though spending taxpayer’s money on the salaries and expenses of 100 unaccountable officials may be hard to swallow, the reality is that abolishing the Upper House would cost much more. The Senators harm no one and often even improve legislation considerably. So while they may be unelected and unaccountable, let’s just pay their salaries and move on to other issues.
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