Senate Reform In Canada Essay

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In 1867, the British parliament passed the British North American Act. This is the constitution of Canada. A constitution is a set of rules regulating the operation of a country’s government. The federal system was thus adopted as an acceptable form of government despite the fact that many of the Fathers of Confederation including, The Right Honourable Sir John A. Macdonald did not believe that a federal system would be operable and consequently opposed it in favor of a unitary government. Two very important sections of the Canadian Constitution are sections 91 and 92. These sections deal with the specific responsibilities of the federal and provincial governments. The major contribution of the British North America Act, 1867 to Canada’s …show more content…

As we have shown, the evolution of the division of powers has resulted in two strong orders of government in Canada, each with broad authority to act. In most policy areas, federal and provincial governments have to coordinate their actions, if only because many contemporary policy issues cut across the jurisdictional boundaries originally defined in the Constitution. …show more content…

Senate Reform address two main issue with the Senate and the solutions in order create a Parliament that would speak and act on behalf of Canadians in all parts of the country. As previously mentioned, the senate is weak, mainly due to political affiliation and a history of incompetent senators. Interconnecting with the issue regarding the Prime Minister’s ability to select his own Senators is that it over-represents the business leaders of the country that it serves as a feeding stratagem for the government party. The implementation of a Senate, which is elected rather than appointed, would ensure that representatives were more responsive to the public. It would also give the Senate the authority to exercise the substantial powers given to it by the Canadian Constitution. Any political institution can obtain formal or legal powers, but if the public does not want them to use it, these powers may not be exercised. In addition, most Canadians have reservations about appointments to a legislative body for such a long term in this, a more democratic age than when the Senate was

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