Abolition Of The Senate In Canada

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Abolition of the Senate

The Senate was created in 1867 under the Constitution Act. It was created to protect regional interests and to provide what George-Étienne Cartier called a "power of resistance to oppose the democratic element." . Today, Senators are appointed by the Governor General on advice of the Prime Minister. The Senate is the Upper House of the Parliament, where they consider and revise legislation, investigate national issues, and most importantly under the Constitution, give the regions of Canada an equal voice in Parliament. However, the most important part, "giving the regions of Canada an equal voice in Parliament", is not being fulfilled. It's essential for the Senate to be abolished.

Members are often given seats …show more content…

As mentioned earlier, the Senate considers and revises legislations. This is one major role they play in the parliament as a bill cannot be passed as a law without their approval. When bills are in discussion they are rarely ever rejected by the Senate as they have constantly been approved within the years. If the Senate is going to endlessly approve every single bill and never the less, make any revision to old legislation to modernize with the world today, then what is the point of having the Senate? They are a useless extra step taken before a bill can be passed. Due to the Senate being recommended by the Prime Minister, they will always be in favour with their decision, disregarding any objection they may have at the back of their heads. If they were to be voted in by the people they would not feel as if they had an obligation to agree with the House of Commons and would actually think about what's best for the people. The Senate is no place for a modern democracy like …show more content…

Senators drain the tax money given by overspending it on unnecessary things, as well as the need to repay damages caused by their scandals. For example, Mike Duffy and Patrick Brazeau who were Conservative Senators had to repay $9,000 and $148,745 in expenses for their scandals. They were both accused of fraudulently declaring primary residence to claim living expenses for time working in Ottawa. Duffy was also charged by the RCMP with 31 offenses and in addition to that Brazeau was temporarily suspended from the Senate due to assault and sexual assault, as well as the charges of fraud and breach were being withheld against him. Brazeau's and Duffy's charges regarding fraud and breach were withdrawn by the Crown. As apart of Brazeau's plea deal he had pleaded guilty to simple assault and drug possession in which many assault charges were dropped and sexual assault charges were acquitted for. Duffy and Brazeau were both immediately able to return to the Senate in 2016. These are the type of people in our Senate; people who waste money due to their scandals and these people are not facing any consequences for their actions. They return to the Senate without any disregard of what had

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