Update Post #26 - Constitutionality of Senate Reform Bill Opinion Sought from SCOC

[Wetcoaster]

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has appointed five new senators to sit in the Upper Chamber, including one chosen by voters in Alberta.

Harper made the announcement in a press release Friday afternoon.

The new senators are:

• Denise Batters, a Regina lawyer and mental-health advocate whose late husband, former MP Dave Batters, committed suicide.

• Lynn Beyak, a small business owner from Dryden, Ont., with experience in real estate, insurance and tourism.

• Doug Black, a Calgary lawyer, as well as vice-chair and senior counsel of the law firm Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP.

• Victor Oh, a Mississauga, Ont., entrepreneur and president of Wyford Holdings, a property development and management business.

• David Wells, a St. John's executive who most recently served as deputy CEO of the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board.

The appointments take effect immediately, bringing the total number of Conservative Party seats to 65. The Liberal Party has 36 seats, with one senator claiming Progressive Conservative membership and two others sitting as Independents. This round of appointments leaves one vacancy.

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...w-senators.html

[Special Ed]

Is this what 'big government' means?

[Wetcoaster]

Is this what 'big government' means?

[Special Ed]

Nope - just filling existing vacancies.

[Ryan Strome]

Good ole Harper

During his time in oppositon did nothing but b!tch and complain about un-elected senators, now he has appointed more un-elected senators then any other Pm. The Senate should be scrapped!

[Wetcoaster]

Good ole Harper

During his time in oppositon did nothing but b!tch and complain about un-elected senators, now he has appointed more un-elected senators then any other Pm. The Senate should be scrapped!

[Ryan Strome]

So infact it would have been much more difficult to abolish the Senate then Mr Layton indicated during the last campaign?

[KoreanHockeyFan]

So infact it would have been much more difficult to abolish the Senate then Mr Layton indicated during the last campaign?

[Ryan Strome]

Wow it was actually a Conservative who brought up the idea of a vote with regards to the future of the Senate. I did not know that until now.

[canuck_trevor16]

The senate should be kept but done so by getting citzens to voters that are equal for each province.........or something like half elected half appointed by a independent committee.......it is a complicated issue as they have senator reform in the past and it failed. it was done in 1992 the triple E senate in Alberta..........I did a entire paper on this issue

[literaphile]

So infact it would have been much more difficult to abolish the Senate then Mr Layton indicated during the last campaign?

[Ryan Strome]

@Koreanhockeyfan

Thats my point.

They should be elected, and Harper promised this. As Wetcoaster pointed out though there seems to be alot more to it.

Also there has been some awful mis-use of tax-payers money in that senate.

[Wetcoaster]

Wow it was actually a Conservative who brought up the idea of a vote with regards to the future of the Senate. I did not know that until now.

[Ryan Strome]

I would like to see the senate gone though. It makes it very difficult to get bills passed. For example, when Harper took power the senate was full of Liberal senators. It works both ways though, if the next gov in 2015 is Ndp or Liberal (or both lol) it will be hard to pass bills as the senate will be 2/3 right wing.

Not to mention it would save the tax payer millions of dollars a year.

[Lancaster]

I was hoping Harper will reform the Senate, maybe something along the lines of the US Senate, where each province/territory will have equal representation.

I wonder how difficult that would be.

[Wetcoaster]

I was hoping Harper will reform the Senate, maybe something along the lines of the US Senate, where each province/territory will have equal representation.

I wonder how difficult that would be.

[canuck_trevor16]

Canadian Senate is a joke compare to US Senate or the British House of Lords........

[Ryan Strome]

Well the house of Lords and the US senate are often considered a joke by the constituents in the 2 Countries you noted.

[silverpig]

I would like to see the senate become a former of technocracy. It would be filled with canada's brightest minds and experts in their fields to provide an educated and expert sober second look at what the house of "commons" passes.

[Electro Rock]

I would like to see the senate become a former of technocracy. It would be filled with canada's brightest minds and experts in their fields to provide an educated and expert sober second look at what the house of "commons" passes.