Reforming The Senate In Canada

The debate of existence of the Senate

Recently, the Canadian society is controversial about the existence of the Senate due to the scandals about expenses. In this essay, it will discuss the importance of reforming the Senate. The Senate asks too much money from the people which are unfair. People are willing to keep the Senate as long as the members represent their provinces’ local interest, having the same seats and elected by the people instead of the Prime Minister.

To keep the Senate costs too much than it really worth, so people believe it’s unnecessary and undemocratic compare with giving more political power to the House of Commons. The members of the Senate are chosen directly from the Prime Minister instead of electing by

The Senate costs the most money compare with all the political institutions in Canada. In fact, people who work for the Senate rarely provide a final check on the law passed in the House of Commons, while getting the highest salary. On the other hand, people also need to pay for other governments at the same time. For instance, “We have municipal governments, urban hamlets, towns and villages, rural municipalities, counties, school boards, hospital boards, provincial governments, the federal House of Commons, and the Senate.”( Hon. JS, Debates of the House of Commons, 2000) People think it’s no longer necessary to pay the Senate more money when people’s basic life needs can be easily satisfied by other governments. Actually, the Canadians consider the Senate’s job as a political furnishing, because the Senate does fewer jobs than municipal or provincial governments. People do not think that the Senate deserves so much money to operate while doing nothing. “As a result the Senate has operated for much of its history as a partisan

For example, the Senator should be elected by the people. Besides, the provincial distribution of seats in the Senate does not fairly reflect the actual situation in the provinces. “However, because the Senate is not elected and represents the worst of partisan, political patronage, it lacks all legitimacy.”(Cranny, M, Jarvis, G, Moles. (2001) P233) It summarizes that the Prime Minister elects the Senator which makes the Senate a place without justice and fairness. Also, the Senate should get more legislative power from the Prime Minister. Therefore, it makes the Senator’s job more effective for the whole Canadian society. “As it stands, Quebec and Ontario each have 24 seats — the same as the four Western provinces combined. Atlantic Canada, with just 7% of the population, holds a disproportionate 29% of the seats.”(Jesse K, Canada needs Triple-E Senate reform, 2013) It will be equal if dividing the seats in the parliament does not according to the number of population within a province. The seats division illustrates the status of each province in the parliament. Also, it is important to choose the senators through voting. Otherwise, people will be disappointed if the senators can’t shoulder the responsibility to fight for their interests. On the other hand, the Senate cannot be