View Full Version : Senate reforms
Title says it all. How would you reform our senate? After all it desperately needs something done.
Gawain of Orkeny
08-04-2005, 17:12
Easy term limits. That is all.
Our senators have 6 year terms, not 4. It's supposed to add some stability...
Gawain of Orkeny
08-04-2005, 17:25
Our senators have 6 year terms, not 4. It's supposed to add some stability...
Term limits has nothing to do with this. ~:confused:
Term limits has nothing to do with this. ~:confused:I was talking about his poll choice #1:
"Like the US (4 year term 2 elected per province)"
Red Harvest
08-04-2005, 18:31
You realize this is about the Canadian govt, right?
Gawain of Orkeny
08-04-2005, 18:36
No I didnt . Silly me
You realize this is about the Canadian govt, right?Yes, I was just reminding lars573 that the US senator term length is 6 years. He said, "Like the US"...
A 6 year term compared to an oppointment for life is an improvement.
GodsPetMonkey
08-04-2005, 22:47
Learn from your commonwealth brothers!
We were the first nation to have a directly elected elected upper house, and it has done us well for all these years.
But unlike our commonwealth brothers we have Quebec. Who has (or rather a vocal minority has) the last 2 times we tried to reform our government (which requires a constitution change and a referendum) has hijacked it for their own ends, those ends being an independant state that uses our currency and benefit from all our trade agreements. So all attempts to change the constitution have that hanging over it's head.
sharrukin
08-04-2005, 23:10
You should point out next time that it is the Canadian Senate you are referring to.
The answer is a Triple-E-Senate: Equal, Effective, and Elected
Equal: A major function of second chambers is legislative review. This means that bills coming from the other house are examined, revised and sometimes delayed. Although Senators frequently say that they will take on regional interests, when push comes to shove they invariably vote along party lines. If they were elected they would be accountable to the regions they represent. As sir John A. MacDonald said, the Senate was to have "the sober second thought in legislation" and should not be "a mere chamber for registering the decrees of the Lower House". Another important function of second chambers in federal systems like Canada's is the representation of the regions on a basis other than representation by population. When different people from different regions wish to achieve a common goal while protecting their respective regionally-based differences against majority rule, a federal system of government is utilized.
Effective: The problem of the present Senate is not a lack of power, but the lack of confidence and legitimacy that would allow it to maintain and use that power. Under current legislation the Senate has the power to be effective in representing regional interests and sober second thought. However, because the Senate is not elected and represents the worst of partisan, political patronage, it lacks all legitimacy. It is unaccountable to Canadian taxpayers. Another reason for the Senate's past ineffectiveness is due to the fact that Senate appointments are partisan in nature. The majority in the Upper House would usually correspond to the majority in the Lower House since appointments were made by the Prime Minister. Therefore, it did not really matter whether or not there was a majority in both chambers by the same party.
Elected: The starting point of Senate reform so that Canadians will have a lawmaking system that reflects the needs of this great country is with the election of Senators. The implementation of a Senate which is elected rather than appointed would ensure that representatives were more responsive to the public. The Senate and its important functions will never be a legitimate part of the lawmaking body, unless its members are accountable to the people of Canada through a democratic election process. A major reason for this ineffectiveness is the method of appointment. By having the federal government alone appoint Senators and for such long terms (until the age of seventy-five), the Senate's ability to represent the regions of Canada has been weakened.
PanzerJaeger
08-04-2005, 23:14
Hehe, Canadian politics just dont seem to have the appeal to outsiders that American politics have. ~D
Hehe, Canadian politics just dont seem to have the appeal to outsiders that American politics have. ~DAs long as the flow of Moosehead beer to the south remains uninterrupted, they can do what they like! ~:cheers:
vBulletin® v3.7.1, Copyright ©2000-2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.