.
The Senate nobody knows
.
July 26, 2015
Saskatoon
by: Marjaleena Repo
Saskatoon
by: Marjaleena Repo
.
“Abolish the Senate!” is the war cry of those who know or care little about the Senate’s constitutional role and history. “Off with their heads,” shout the illeterati and ignorati, NDP leader Thomas Mulcair the general in charge of a bloodthirsty mob.
“The scandal” of Senate expenses as revealed by auditor general Michael Ferguson (a million dollar supposed “abuse” claim, not yet proven, has cost taxpayers $23.3 million) and of the ongoing Senator Duffy trial for fraud and breach of trust (with trials of Senators Wallin and Brazeau pending), has sent the usual suspects into total frenzy to scrap the Senate, by hook or by crook, NOW! Yet, the Duffy trial itself might end up with a handful of nothing, except a huge expense to the taxpayers and Mr. Duffy himself. What the three had asked for and which was denied them by the Conservative Senate majority, was a fair hearing where they could have defended themselves, perhaps avoiding an unnecessary trial. Now other senators, retired and sitting, are facing the same fate, being tried in the court of public opinion and perhaps charged for expenses once approved but now questioned by an auditor unfamiliar with the work or rules of the Senate. (The list of charges makes for interesting reading, particularly when the senators are only permitted 500 words in rebuttal!)
The charge of “Senate scandals” is, however, a familiar canard, used for decades as a pretext by the abolitionists to demand elimination of this fundamental part of our governance. The scandal-mongering denies the accomplishments, past, present and potential, of an institution which has more positive contributions in its history than its combined “scandals.”
In 1988, for instance, the Senate, in the words of parliamentary expert, C.E.S. Franks, “achieved its greatest importance, when it refused to pass legislation for a free trade deal with the United States, ” and forced prime minister Mulroney to call an election, to “let the people decide.” Mulroney, enraged, wanted to make the existence of the Senate THE election issue, but, instead, free trade with the US became, famously, the only issue of the ’88 election. (Mulroney referred to the election as a “referendum on free trade,” but when results showed only 43% voting for free trade and 53% opposing it, all talk about “referendum” ended, and we have, consequently, been burdened by FTA —and later NAFTA— against the expressed wishes of a majority of Canadians.)
The Mulroney era, 1984 -93, was the heyday of Senate activism, while the House of Commons was stifled by the Conservative majority, just as it currently is by the Harper government’s false majority. The Senate fought bravely against the wildly unpopular GST, until in a constitutional flim flam Mulroney added eight extra senators to force the GST through. The Senate also blocked a repressive and punitive abortion law, and there were other critical interventions. Those years demonstrated clearly the powers of the Senate to function as a guardian of democracy and as a Chamber of Sober Second Thought.
The current inability of the Senate to function in its proscribed role is not the fault of the institution but of the Harper government that has made BOTH houses dysfunctional. Its majorities have obstructed committee work by stacking them, preventing knowledgeable witnesses from being heard, and using closure in issue after issue. Sober second thought in the Senate appears only as dissent to the obedient Conservative majority, rather than as its essential ingredient.
It now behooves Canadians to become practitioners of Sober Second Thought on the Senate, rather than to succumb to the blatant demagoguery of the abolitionists. Time for all to hit the books which most have clearly been deprived of from high school on, where lessons about the nature of our governance ought to have been vigorously studied. A good start would be, Protecting Canadian Democracy — the Senate You Never Knew, edited by Senator Serge Joyal, which contains a motherlode of information on the history and worth of the Senate. The book, in writer Chantal Hebert’s words, “sheds insightful light on a valuable but misunderstood institute…Canadians ignore the Senate’s potential to their detriment…” If only we could get Thomas Mulcair to read that book...
“The scandal” of Senate expenses as revealed by auditor general Michael Ferguson (a million dollar supposed “abuse” claim, not yet proven, has cost taxpayers $23.3 million) and of the ongoing Senator Duffy trial for fraud and breach of trust (with trials of Senators Wallin and Brazeau pending), has sent the usual suspects into total frenzy to scrap the Senate, by hook or by crook, NOW! Yet, the Duffy trial itself might end up with a handful of nothing, except a huge expense to the taxpayers and Mr. Duffy himself. What the three had asked for and which was denied them by the Conservative Senate majority, was a fair hearing where they could have defended themselves, perhaps avoiding an unnecessary trial. Now other senators, retired and sitting, are facing the same fate, being tried in the court of public opinion and perhaps charged for expenses once approved but now questioned by an auditor unfamiliar with the work or rules of the Senate. (The list of charges makes for interesting reading, particularly when the senators are only permitted 500 words in rebuttal!)
The charge of “Senate scandals” is, however, a familiar canard, used for decades as a pretext by the abolitionists to demand elimination of this fundamental part of our governance. The scandal-mongering denies the accomplishments, past, present and potential, of an institution which has more positive contributions in its history than its combined “scandals.”
In 1988, for instance, the Senate, in the words of parliamentary expert, C.E.S. Franks, “achieved its greatest importance, when it refused to pass legislation for a free trade deal with the United States, ” and forced prime minister Mulroney to call an election, to “let the people decide.” Mulroney, enraged, wanted to make the existence of the Senate THE election issue, but, instead, free trade with the US became, famously, the only issue of the ’88 election. (Mulroney referred to the election as a “referendum on free trade,” but when results showed only 43% voting for free trade and 53% opposing it, all talk about “referendum” ended, and we have, consequently, been burdened by FTA —and later NAFTA— against the expressed wishes of a majority of Canadians.)
The Mulroney era, 1984 -93, was the heyday of Senate activism, while the House of Commons was stifled by the Conservative majority, just as it currently is by the Harper government’s false majority. The Senate fought bravely against the wildly unpopular GST, until in a constitutional flim flam Mulroney added eight extra senators to force the GST through. The Senate also blocked a repressive and punitive abortion law, and there were other critical interventions. Those years demonstrated clearly the powers of the Senate to function as a guardian of democracy and as a Chamber of Sober Second Thought.
The current inability of the Senate to function in its proscribed role is not the fault of the institution but of the Harper government that has made BOTH houses dysfunctional. Its majorities have obstructed committee work by stacking them, preventing knowledgeable witnesses from being heard, and using closure in issue after issue. Sober second thought in the Senate appears only as dissent to the obedient Conservative majority, rather than as its essential ingredient.
It now behooves Canadians to become practitioners of Sober Second Thought on the Senate, rather than to succumb to the blatant demagoguery of the abolitionists. Time for all to hit the books which most have clearly been deprived of from high school on, where lessons about the nature of our governance ought to have been vigorously studied. A good start would be, Protecting Canadian Democracy — the Senate You Never Knew, edited by Senator Serge Joyal, which contains a motherlode of information on the history and worth of the Senate. The book, in writer Chantal Hebert’s words, “sheds insightful light on a valuable but misunderstood institute…Canadians ignore the Senate’s potential to their detriment…” If only we could get Thomas Mulcair to read that book...
.
Editor’s note: Marjaleena wrote this in late June and we were unable to post it at the time, however the recent announcement by the blustering Prime Minister to not appoint any new Senators until he Senate is reformed makes this article particularly pertinent. We have always known the Prime Minister’s distain for democracy but now we get to see his ignorance as well. Without unanimous approval of all provinces shutting the Senate down is impossible and reforming it would require opening the constitution and we all know that is also impossible. Therefore, there must be a functioning Senate to approve all bills passed by the House of Commons for them to become law. The whole Canadian democratic system depends not upon the Prime Minister and his office but upon the legislation process and without a working Senate there can be no legislative process.