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The Senate

The Senate. Who. The Prime Minister appoints Senators Senators serve on the Senate until they are 75 years old and then retire Senators must own land worth $4000 in the province they represent

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The Senate

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  1. The Senate

  2. Who • The Prime Minister appoints Senators • Senators serve on the Senate until they are 75 years old and then retire • Senators must own land worth $4000 in the province they represent • If a Senator dies, retires, or reaches the age of 75 the current Prime Minister will appoint a new Senator • Prime Ministers always appoint people from their own party to the Senate

  3. Organization • Senate split into four regions, Ontario, Quebec, the Maritimes, and the Western Provinces, Newfoundland and Labrador and the territories make up a fifth unrecognized region • 105 seats in the Senate • Ontario 24 • Quebec 24 • The Maritimes 24 (PEI 4, New Brunswick 10, Nova Scotia 10) • The Western Provinces 24 (BC 6, Alberta 6, Saskatchewan 6, Manitoba 6) • Newfoundland and Labrador 6 • Nunavut, Yukon, the Northwest Territories 3 (1 each)

  4. Purpose • Senate has three main purposes • To give regional representation, • To polish legislation • To provide a “sober second-thought”

  5. To Give Regional Representation • Seats in the House of Commons are determined by population, as the population grows more seats are added • The Senate was planned to make sure the regions of Canada all had an equal say in the government • Specifically it was designed to make sure that Quebec could protect its language and culture from the other provinces

  6. To Polish Legislation • Senators spend a lot of time in committees and making reports • When new laws are passed they will often send a list of recommendations on how to improve it or preform a study on the impact of the law • These recommendations must be approved by the House of Commons

  7. Senate Committees

  8. To Provide a “Sober Second Thought” • This means to reconsider the bills or laws that the House of Commons has passed • The Senate will not kill a bill but they might send it back to the House of Commons to be voted on again • Normally when it is sent back it has recommendations

  9. 4th Original Purpose • The Senate was originally designed so that the elites of Canada would be able to kill any bill in the House of Commons they did not like • This why Senators must have $4000 in land (approximately worth $200 000 now) • As Canada grew the Senate grew weaker and lost this purpose

  10. Criticisms • 3 main criticisms of the Senate • Over representation of business leaders • Patronage Device • Unequal Representation

  11. Over representation of business leaders • Two thirds of senators come from a business background, some groups argue that this has lead to the Senate being soft on corporations and big business • The worry is that the Senate will decide what is best for corporations (big companies) instead of for the people

  12. Patronage Device • Patronage: giving high positions and favors in return for loyalty or favors to the party • 5 out of every 6 senators worked as either a party fundraiser, were part of a party executive committee, or worked as an advisor on a party’s election campaign. • This has lead some groups to argue that the Senate has become away of rewarding friends of the Prime Minister.

  13. Unequal Representation • BC has six senators the same as Newfoundland while Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have ten each. • This has led some people to complain that the Senate has failed in its purpose of regional representation

  14. Reform • There has been 28 major proposals to change the Senate since the 1970s, all have failed • Some ideas • Provinces should appoint Senators • Senators should be Provincial MLAs • Western Provinces should get more Senate seats • The Senate should be removed from the government

  15. The 3-E Senate • Elected, Equal, & Effective • A popular idea on how to reform the senate • Elected – all Senators will be elected • Equal – each province would be given the same amount of seats in the Senate • Effective – if the Senators were elected and of an equal number then the senate could do what it has built to do

  16. Review • Senate is appointed not elected • Purpose is to give provinces equal representation and to help improve bills • Senate is seen as bad because it does not equal represent provinces and appointments are given as rewards or as favors • Many people want the Senate to change; specifically to have senators elected and have each province have an equal number of senators

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