Senate reform: Et tu, Stephen?

[tuvor]

An elected Senate, without proper safeguards, will not be more representative, says parliamentary expert NED FRANKS

NED FRANKS

From Friday's Globe and Mail

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has now added his contributions to Canada's long-standing obsession with Senate reform. He has proposed an incremental process in which Bill S-4, currently before the Senate, is the first step. The bill limits the tenure of a senator to a renewable eight-year term.

The next step will be legislation establishing a process for choosing senators through elections. The Senate is also considering a proposal to increase the representation of Western provinces.

The roles of the Canadian Senate and House of Commons are, and should continue to be, fundamentally different. The Commons is the confidence chamber, the place where money bills and other government business is initiated and debated, and where, within the limits of the Constitution and Canada's federal nature, representation is by population.

Neither the Fathers of Confederation nor any serious observer since has believed that the Senate should be anything but the second chamber of Parliament. As the chamber of sober second thought, its main work -- which is much more valuable than is generally appreciated -- has been in the revision of legislation and in thorough committee investigations.

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