Senate Reform or Abolition: How Can it Be Done?

So Bottom Line...... 

• The Senate can be abolished. 
• We don't need the senate's vote to agree to abolition.
• Yes, abolition would require a constitutional amendment;
• which would need the House of Commons and all 10 Provinces to agree to the abolition amendment.
• All provinces are protected under the constitutions minimum representation guarantee.

Senate Reform and/or Abolition: How can it be done?

1)  Some people believe that because Canada is a federation, there needs to be an Upper House, some kind of Senate, with representation based on membership in the federation. Germany, the US, Australia (and the list goes on) all have upper houses with equitable or equal representation of the sub-national units. ‘Canada has the only wholly appointed second chamber in the western world’ and that part, at the very least, needs to be eliminated if we are to keep the Senate.


2)  If the only objection to abolition raised by Quebec and/or PEI is that they are worried about minimum representation in the House of Commons,  it's guaranteed through section 51 of the Constitution Act, 1982 to be no less than the number of Senators a province had in 1982. So abolition might meet with unanimous provincial consent.   

3)  This is key to understanding senate abolition. The Senate only has a suspensive veto.  If they refuse to pass the resolution to amend the Constitution, then the House of Commons can overrule them by passing it a second time (as long as there is agreement from all 10 provinces) no less than 180 days (not including days when the House is prorogued or dissolved) after the initial vote. 

• Here is the text from the recent Supreme Court Ruling:
• "Amendments to the Constitution of Canada are subject to review by the Senate. The Senate can veto amendments brought under s. 44 and can delay the adoption of amendments made pursuant to ss. 38, 41, 42, and 43 by up to 180 days: s. 47, Constitution Act, 1982" 
• Section 41 is the section that applies to reform or abolition of the senate.

• It's complicated and you practically need a lawyer or a flowchart to figure it out; but here is the link to the interpretation on abolition: - See point 152 in Part III, section II subsection F.

4)  Quebec abolished its Legislative Council (upper house) in the 60s by essentially bribing them to vote in favor. The sitting Councillors all got severance, plus kept collecting their salaries until age 75, then got their full pension based on the legal fiction that they had served until age 75. The fact that the Senate does not have to approve its elimination removes the necessity of this kind of platinum parachute.  

5)  Use of the notwithstanding clause. The 'notwithstanding clause' is a section of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Part I of the Constitution Act, 1982) which only applies to certain sections of the Charter, not to the entire constitution, and would not be applicable to Senate revision or abolition. 

6)  Countries all over the world are amending and forming new constitutions; Google even has a website to compare different constitutions.  There was more information on our Canadian constitution at the constitution project website than in our own government website.   It’s not like we have never amended our constitution, indeed it’s been amended 32 times, a full 16 times since 1960. Interesting to compare our ranking to other constitutions around the world. 

 

Let’s not be so conditioned in the politics of fear and apathy that we miss opportunities to structure our government to reflect our values of justice, responsibility, accountability, equity and inclusivity.  

Sources:  
Much thanks to Chris Green who provided the five points above:  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004133953553   
‘Canada has the only wholly appointed second chamber in the world’:  http://tinyurl.com/pltc8gf 
Section 51 of the Constitution 'minimum representation' :  http://tinyurl.com/kgy9qsx 
Recent Supreme Court ruling on Senate Reform:  http://tinyurl.com/ncaloaq 
The Constitution of Canada including the Charter of Rights: http://tinyurl.com/oovlu7l  
How Quebec abolished it's Senate in one simple step:  http://tinyurl.com/pvjv9bx
The Notwithstanding clause (Section 33 of the Charter of Rights) : http://tinyurl.com/pngkozx  
Definition of Suspensive Veto:  http://tinyurl.com/qgwsls7  
Powers of the Senate, Suspensive Veto: http://tinyurl.com/pzupg48   
Reforming the Senate of Canada, Frequently Asked Questions: http://tinyurl.com/pzupg48  

Factum on Senate Reform: http://tinyurl.com/qdazxsv  

Mulcair vows to consult premiers on abolishing 'archaic' Senate if elected:  http://tinyurl.com/ochm22f