This past Monday a committee of the Manitoba Legislature visited Steinbach to listen to public presentations on whether senators should be elected, and if so, how those elections should take place.
The committee was established by NDP Premier Gary Doer and is one of the rare times a Manitoba committee ever leaves the Legislature. In the past, Premier Doer has refused to allow committees examining the provincial hog moratorium or committees examining the health care system to ever leave the Legislature for fear it would cause too much political embarrassment. Hopefully this will free up other committees dealing with issues that touch closer to home to travel the province.
While there were few presenters at the meeting, from my conversations with local residents, it seems clear the vast majority favour reforming the Canadian Senate. At a minimum that change should include the election of senators.
Currently the 105 senators in Ottawa make over $120,000 a year and are guaranteed their job until the age of 75. They do not have to run for election or re-election as they are appointed directly by the Prime Minister. To his credit, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is valiantly trying to change the rules of the Senate to have its members elected. It is certainly a needed first step but hopefully only the first step.
Over the years the concept of developing a “Triple E” senate has been debated. Much of the attention has focused around the first two “E’s” of elected senators with an equal number from each province. The third E stands for effective and it probably does not get the attention it deserves.
It is unlikely that many Canadians consider the current Senate to be effective. In fact few Canadians could likely identify a single policy or decision the Canadian Senate has made that has impacted their lives. It doesn’t mean these examples don’t exist, but the mere fact that so few Canadians can point to its impact or even who the Senators are from their province is an indication of an institution that is not effective. Most school aged children that I have the opportunity to meet at the Manitoba Legislature know that the Canadian Senate exists but almost none know why it exists.
While moving to an elected Senate may give individual senators more credibility, it doesn’t mean that the Senate itself will grow in credibility or effectiveness. For the more than $120,000 a year that senators earn, their needs to be a clearer set of expectations on what they are to achieve individually and what the powers of the Senate collectively will be and how those powers can be exercised.
Moving toward an elected Senate is an important measure of reform over an institution that been very reluctant to be reformed during the last century. But it remains only the first step. Canadians will still rightfully demand that for the money that senators are paid from taxdollars’ there be some measurable benefit. Without the development of an effective Senate, most Canadians might simply support abolishing it all together.
