Some provinces proposed that Senate appointments be turned over to the provincial governments. Senators could act as provincial representatives, defending regional interests. Critics charged that such a system would run counter to the principles of federalism and representative democracy. Following the collapse of the Meech Lake Accord, Alberta held a provincial election to fill a vacant Senate seat.
Although not constitutionally bound to do so, Brian Mulroney appointed the nominee, Stan Waters , to the Senate in Since then, Alberta and British Columbia have held further non-binding Senate elections; from them, a list of names is given to Ottawa for consideration, whenever Senate seats from those provinces become vacant. Under the present Constitution , turning the Senate into an elected House would require a constitutional amendment.
It would need the consent of seven provincial legislatures, representing at least half the population of the 10 provinces. So, too, would any change in the Senate's powers; or in the number of senators from any province. The government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper tried twice after to reform the Senate; each time by submitting legislation through Parliament that sought to avoid a constitutional amendment.
It never became law. The bill would have limited Senate terms to nine years and allowed provinces to elect their senators if they chose to do so. By the end of , the bill had not been debated in Parliament for many months; instead, it came under renewed scrutiny because of a high-profile scandal involving the Prime Minister's Office and three Harper-appointed senators accused of filing improper expense claims See Canadian Senate Expenses Scandal ; Mike Duffy Case.
As the scandal was underway, the Quebec Court of Appeal, acting on a request by the Quebec government, issued a ruling in October It found Bill C-7 unconstitutional. The following month the Supreme Court of Canada acted on a request from the federal government ; the Court opened its own hearings into Bill C-7 to determine whether the Senate can be reformed without a constitutional change process.
This would force Ottawa into negotiations with the provinces. The federal government also asked the Court for direction on how the Senate could be abolished. The Harper government argued that under the Constitution , abolition only requires the approval of Parliament plus seven provinces representing 50 per cent of Canada's population.
Most provinces, however, say abolition requires the formal consent of all 10 provinces. The Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision on the matter on 25 April The Court said creating an elected Senate with nine-year term limits required the consent of seven provinces with 50 per cent of the population. And it said abolishing the Senate required the consent of all 10 provinces. In each case, a constitutional amendment would be necessary. It had included Liberal members of both the House of Commons and the Senate.
Senators who had previously served as Liberals instead became independent members. The change effectively freed Liberal senators from having to vote along party lines. Following this change, the Liberal senators divided themselves into two camps; one group sits as independent senators, while a larger group chooses to call itself the Senate Liberal Caucus albeit removed from the Liberal caucus in the House of Commons.
Many Liberal and independent former Liberal senators remained card-carrying members of the Liberal Party of Canada. There was no similar change applied to Conservative senators; they were still members of the Conservative Party parliamentary caucus.
After becoming prime minister , Trudeau in appointed 22 new independent senators. The remaining 15 were picked by the Advisory Board under a new process that saw more than 2, Canadians apply for Senate jobs. This was the first time the government had issued a public call for applications for Senate membership.
He was responsible for stewarding government legislation through the upper chamber. They could command party members in the Senate to support government legislation. In November , there were several significant changes in the composition of the Senate.
Early that month, the Canadian Senators Group was established by former members of the Independent Senators Group, the Conservative Senate Caucus and a non-affiliated senator. This meant that for the first time since Confederation , there were no sitting Liberal senators in the upper house.
Only days later, the Progressive Senate Group lost official group status after one of its members joined the Canadian Senators Group. Senators Official information source about current members of the Senate in Ottawa. Government business generally originates in the House of Commons but most government legislation can start in the Senate as well.
The Journals do not record which senators were for or against the question. All items before the Senate that are not government business. In most situations, a question is a proposal made by a senator that requires the Senate to make a decision, for example, that a bill be adopted.
A question can be adopted or defeated. Senators may ask the Leader of the Government in the Senate Government Representative about matters relating to public affairs, or committee chairs about committee activities. Federal government cabinet ministers can also be invited to answer questions related to their ministerial responsibilities — another way in which the Senate promotes accountability and transparency in Parliament. At second reading, senators debate the principle of the bill, but no amendments can be proposed.
If a bill passes second reading, it usually goes to committee for further study. Senators can introduce their own bills on subjects that are important to Canadians they represent. Every item on the Order Paper and Notice Paper is called during a typical sitting of the Senate; any senator can generally engage in debate without notice when the item is called.
If there is no objection, the next item of business is then called. At the start of a standing vote, senators who are voting yes stand to show their support and their names are read out. Senators voting no then rise, followed by senators who wish to abstain. Whenever a senator dies, resigns, is removed, or reaches the age limit, the sitting prime minister of Canada gets to appoint a replacement, meaning at any given time the Senate is a hodge-podge of various appointments dating back several different prime ministerial administrations.
It should go without saying that prime ministers always appoint senators from their own political party. The formal head of the Senate of Canada is the Senate Speaker , who is appointed by the prime minister.
Seen here, current speaker George Furey b. There is also one senator who represents the party of the current prime minister, known as the government leader , and one who represents the opposition party, known as the opposition leader. They serve as leaders of their party caucuses in the same way the party leaders in the House do, though they are ultimately subordinate to the House leadership.
The original purpose of the Senate was to provide an elite veto on potentially harmful legislation passed by the democratically-elected House of Commons , in the same way the hereditary aristocrats of the British House of Lords would often veto legislation passed by the elected House of Commons of their country.
At the time the Canadian Constitution was written, there was still relatively high levels of distrust for democracy within the Canadian political establishment, and it was considered important for there to be some level of government that could overrule what were assumed to be the occasionally dumb or dangerous ideas of politicians elected by poor or uneducated voters.
Unlike Britain, however, Canada lacked an aristocracy, so the Senate quickly became a hotbed of patronage — a place where prime ministers could stick friends and allies as a reward for loyal service. This is still largely the case today. By law, senators are required to be property owners in the province they represent. The weirdness of this system is one of the reasons why the Senate is so controversial.
In reality, the allocation of Senate seats has more to do with the order different provinces joined Canada, and how large and powerful they were at the time. Here is the complete breakdown of Senate seats, along with party standings.
This list is accurate as of May, :. The Senate party system is a bit odd and complicated right now thanks to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau b. In several of the formerly Liberal independent senators created the Independent Senate Group ISG , which is now recognized by the Senate rules as something with basically the same rights as a political party.
Not all independent senators belong to the ISG, however. Here is the breakdown of Senate seats based on which prime minister appointed them. It should be noted that most independent or ISG senators were not originally appointed as such, but rather left their original party at some point during their Senate career. This list is accurate as of May, Like the House of Commons, the Senate is divided into multiple specialized committees allowing its members to debate and contemplate legislation in greater detail.
Only in the rare cases where the Senate is controlled by a different party than the House, and there is a very, very controversial piece of legislation before them, would rejection of a bill even be considered. A more common, moderate compromise is for the Senate to suggest amendments , or changes, to a House bill that may or may not be followed.
These days, senators are best known for busying themselves with hearings , committees and reports , in which they investigate matters, conduct research, and give advice to other levels of government. Since they are not very actively involved in the day-to-day business of governing the country, senators have a lot of freedom to study topics they consider interesting or important but may be going ignored in mainstream politics.
Long and thorough Senate reports on complicated, challenging, or politically unpopular topics are common Senate output, and are generally well-respected.
It would be fair to describe the Senate as a fairly insecure body. The province of Alberta began holding elections for senators in , but prime ministers argued they had no legal obligation to appoint the winners to the Senate.
Prime Minister Brian Mulroney b.
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