Senate reform: an incremental option.

AuthorStilborn, Jack

Although constitutional barriers to major Senate reform make the task appear daunting, significant change can be achieved through deliberate evolution which is shaped by consistent objectives. In this article the author identifies an incoherence about the defining purpose of the Senate as a central reason for the failure of past reform initiatives. Outlining the incremental reform option, he suggests practical steps, notably introducing a "job description" and particular qualifications required of Senate appointees. This could improve both appointments and accountability, and also support future nomination committees or other mechanisms.

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Canada is once again experiencing a cycle of media attention to alleged Senate scandals and opinion polls showing wide support for change. Unless public emotion about the Senate can be connected to practical solutions and action, however, history suggests that today's intensity will merely be the prelude to tomorrow's fatigue and collective indifference. This article explores an approach to reform that does not rely upon constitutional change and could thus be initiated immediately. The Senate today is a very different institution from the Upper House created in 1867 and will continue to evolve, either by default or as a result of deliberate effort. If its evolution is shaped by consistent objectives, significant reform of the Senate can be accomplished incrementally.

The Underlying Problem

Dissatisfaction with the status quo Senate is widely shared among Canadians, but disagreement about what specifically needs to be done dates back at least to 1874, when a reform proposal was inconclusively debated in the House of Commons. A distinctively Canadian Senate reform cottage industry produced a wide range of detailed proposals during the 1970's, 1980's and early 1990's. In retrospect, however, the ephemeral character of the interest these proposals generated is perhaps their most striking feature. Why have none among the reformed appointed, abolition, Bundesrat-model or variations on elected Upper Houses, however ingeniously stocked with double-majority voting procedures and other novelties, translated persistent dissatisfaction with the Senate into durable public support for a specific reform? An answer to this question is needed to avoid further cycles of infatuation and disillusionment.

The multitude of reform proposals developed over the years are conspicuously laconic about the purpose of the...

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