Senate Reform Bills Reintroduced

The government reintroduced the two Senate Reform bills that had died on the order paper when the Parliament prorogued. Bill S-4 that would limit Senate tenure to one 8-year term was reintroduced as the House of Commons bill C-19. Bill C-43 that would provide for Senate elections was reintroduced as bill C-20.

Same as before, the bill falls short of having the Senators directly elected. Technically, the Senators would be still appointed by the Governor General at the advice of the Prime Minister, but the list of nominees would be compiled by the voters province-wide. The election process itself would be called "consultation with electors on their preferences for appointments to the Senate". Well, call it whatever you want - as long as there are elections held and those elections are binding - I'm ok with that.

Passing those bills however won't be easy. This time, instead of just prolonging the debate, the opposition wants bill C-20 to be sent to a committee before it's debated at second reading. But Stephen Harper too is not in the mood for any more filibustering from the opposition, threatening to support the NDP motion to hold a referendum on abolishing the Senate, if the opposition parties keep blocking the reform.

And, since the NDP and the Bloc clearly favor abolishing the Senate, that puts the ball in the Liberals' court. Will they choose to support the "piecemeal" Senate reform or will the Liberal Senators eventually have to vote on a bill that would set the conditions for abolishing the Senate altogether? Are they going to make it a free vote, thus passing the responsibility to the individual MPs? Either way it won't be an easy decision for the party.

Another interesting point: as the polls go, if Canadians were to choose between abolishing the Senate and keeping the Red Chamber as it is, majority would vote to abolish it. If however the question included another option - such as reforming the Upper chamber - majority would support a Senate reform, rather than abolition. So, if it comes to a referendum, the government better makes sure to put the Senate reform question on the same ballot.