DOCSLIB.ORG

The Canadian Senate As a Political Symbol

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Canadian Senate As a Political Symbol W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1992 Symbolic Action as Politics: The Canadian Senate as a Political Symbol Jay Marsh Price College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Canadian History Commons, and the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Price, Jay Marsh, "Symbolic Action as Politics: The Canadian Senate as a Political Symbol" (1992). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539625753. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-pf1m-mf47 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SYMBOLIC ACTION AS POLITICS THE CANADIAN SENATE AS A POLITICAL SYMBOL A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Government The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfilment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Jay Marsh Price 1992 APPROVAL SHEET This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Author Approved, August 1992 Roger W. Smith James Mi clot DEDICATION Ad Glorae Dei ii TABLE OF CONTENTS page APPROVAL SHEET ............................................................................... i DEDICATION............................................................................................................ ii TABLE OF CONTENTS.............................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................................. iv ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................. v INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 2 CHAPTER I. THE SYMBOLISM OF POLITICS . ................................................10 CHAPTER II. BICAMERALISM AND THE CANADIAN EXPERIENCE . 21 CHAPTER III. FEDERAL MYTHAND SYMBOLIC REALITY .... 55 CONCLUSION...................................................................................................................80 APPENDIX........................................................................................................................82 BIBLIOGRAPHY.......................................................................................................85 iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The writer wishes to express his appreciation to a number of individuals and groups. I would particularly like to thank the Library of Canadian Embassy in Washington, the Senate of Canada Information Service, the Government of Alberta, and the Canada West Foundation for supplying me with a considerable amount of useful information which would have been difficult to obtain otherwise. I would also like to thank Dr. Donald J. Baxter, for first suggesting that I study upper chambers, and Dr. Katherine Rahman, for recommending the Canadian Senate as a thesis topic. Finally, I would like to thank those on my thesis committee: Dr. James Miclot, for his humor and encouragement, Dr. Roger W. Smith, for being a sympathetic sounding board during the writing process, and Dr. Alan J. Ward, for his patience, guidance, and sense of humor, all of which were needed in guiding the intellectual wanderings of a bewildered graduate student. ABSTRACT This thesis tests the ideas of Walter Bagehot and Murray Edelman, who suggest that symbols are very important to a political system, by using the Canadian Senate as a case study. Though this study is primarily concerned with the Senate which was created in 1867, the implications of a future reformed chamber are also included. The hypothesis is that the Canadian Senate, in spite of its concrete weaknesses, has impacted the politics of Canada by serving as a symbol for highly valued Canadian ideals, in particular the need to protect Quebec and the smaller provinces from the federal government. The role of the Senate in the discussions of Canadian Confederation (1864-1867) and the Constitutional reform issue (ca. 1980-1992) illustrate the degree to which the Canadians respond to the symbols of their country. The case of the Canadian Senate suggests that symbols can play an effective role in a political system in two ways. First, a symbol can be a focal point onto which individuals and groups can attach their aspirations. Second, a political symbol can be a tool by which participants in the political process can understand the happenings around them. v SYMBOLIC ACTION AS POLITICS: THE CANADIAN SENATE AS POLITICAL SYMBOL INTRODUCTION The political symbols of a government are often evident to both outsiders and citizens. To the vast majority of a nation’s people, the images of politics provide an important way of relating to the complicated process of government. Symbols serve a real function by motivating and placating the forces which occur within a country. One example of a useful political symbol is the Canadian Senate. The chamber has been a source of controversy for over a century, particularly since much of the literature surrounding the institution has focused on its purely practical aspects, where the Senate does indeed fall short. However, the Senate is a worthwhile institution because of its ability to represent important ideals. The Red Chamber1 is valuable as a political symbol. Even though its impact does not come from concrete actions, like the alteration of legislation, the Senate has been constructive in Canadian po1i t ics. 1. The Canadian Senate’s nickname is "the Red Chamber," a name derived from the red furnishings of the Senate chamber, itself. Chapter IV explains why the color red is significant to the Senate’s image. 2 3 Upper chambers2 have been a popular subject of study for over two centuries. The usefulness of the British House of Lords has been debated since the 18th century by several theorists, including Edmund Burke, Montesquieu, Jeremy Bentham, and John Stuart Mill. The emergence of the United States of America produced one of the first great systematic analyses of bicameralism, the Federalist Papers. A short time later, the French revolution helped encourage thinkers to write against the aristocratic second house as something outdated. Jeremy Bentham, whose opinions are outlined in Lewis Rockow’s article, "Bentham on the Theory of Second Chambers," was one of the earliest critics of the bicameral system. Even John Stuart Mill, who thought that the issue of upper chambers received far more attention than it was worth, wrote on the merits and costs of an upper house in Representative Government. At the turn of the century, bicameral ism became the focus of early social scientists as well as philosophers. By that time, enough bicameral systems had been established to allow scholars to compare the upper chambers of several states. Among these early works are Senates and Upper Chambers, by W. V. Temperley, Second Chambers in Practice, by the Rainbow Circle, Second Chambers, by J. A. R. Marriott, and Second 2 For this essay, the terms "upper chamber," "second chamber," "second house," "upper house," "senate," and "legislative council" are treated as synonomous. Unless directly quoted as such these terms will not be capitalized. 4 Chambers in Theory and Practice, by H. B. Lees-Smith. After the 1930\s, interest specifically in the nature of upper chambers declined in favor two different modes of study. In one type of literature, such as K. C. Wheare, Legis latures, and Alexander Brady, Democracy in the Dominions. the discussion of bicameralism was simply a component of a larger s tudy. The other type of literature focused on the upper chambers of specific nations rather than on second houses in general. Often, the discussion of a particular country’s second house was just a section of a more general analysis of that nations political system as a whole. In reference to Canada, such works include C.E.S. Frank, The Parliament of Canada, Robert Jackson and Michael Atkinson, The Canadian Legislative System:_____ Politicians and Policymaking, J.R. Mallory, The Structure of Canadian Government, and Dawson’s The Government of Canada, by Norman Ward, which all provide useful insights into the workings of the Canadian Senate by placing the institution in its context in Canadian politics. The Canadian Senate has long been a topic of controversy and has generated a considerable amount of research. The seminal work on the Red Chamber is Robert A. Mackay, The Unreformed Senate of Canada. Published in 1926 and updated in 1963, this work remains the backbone of scholarship on the Canadian upper house. Also of major significance is F. A. Kunz , The Modern Senate of Canada 1925-1963: A Re-appraisal, 5 a book written partly in response to Mackay, which argues that the Senate has taken on new roles in addition to those which it has traditionally performed since 1867. In 1988, the Centre for Constitutional Studies at the University of Alberta hosted a conference of journalists, academians, and politicians for the purpose of comparing the different Senate reform plans. The Centre published the proceedings of this conference in a work entitled, The Canadian Senate: What Is To Be Done? Other scholarly works include Senator John Connolly’s
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Councillor Biographies
    BIOGRAPHIES OF COUNCIL MEMBERS The following biographies were complied from the vast information found at the City of Edmonton Archives. Please feel free to contact the Office of the City Clerk or the City of Edmonton Archives if you have more information regarding any of the people mentioned in the following pages. The sources used for each of the biographies are found at the end of each individual summary. Please note that photos and additional biographies of these Mayors, Aldermen and Councillors are available on the Edmonton Public Library website at: http://www.epl.ca/edmonton-history/edmonton-elections/biographies-mayors-and- councillors?id=K A B C D E F G H I, J, K L M N, O P Q, R S T U, V, W, X, Y, Z Please select the first letter of the last name to look up a member of Council. ABBOTT, PERCY W. Alderman, 1920-1921 Born on April 29, 1882 in Lucan, Ontario where he was educated. Left Lucan at 17 and relocated to Stony Plain, Alberta where he taught school from 1901 to 1902. He then joined the law firm of Taylor and Boyle and in 1909 was admitted to the bar. He was on the Board of Trade and was a member of the Library Board for two years. He married Margaret McIntyre in 1908. They had three daughters. He died at the age of 60. Source: Edmonton Bulletin, Nov. 9, 1942 - City of Edmonton Archives ADAIR, JOSEPH W. Alderman, 1921-1924 Born in 1877 in Glasgow. Came to Canada in 1899 and worked on newspapers in Toronto and Winnipeg.
    [Show full text]
  • “Apples and Oranges”
    Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies “Apples and Oranges”. Prospects for the Comparative Analysis of the EU and NAFTA as Continental Systems Stephen Clarkson RSC No. 2000/23 EUI WORKING PAPERS EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE RSC 2000/23 © 2000 Stephen Clarkson All rights reserved. No part of this paper may be reproduced in any form without permission of the authors. © 2000 Stephen Clarkson Printed in Italy in May 2000 European University Institute Badia Fiesolana I – 50016 San Domenico (FI) Italy RSC 2000/23 © 2000 Stephen Clarkson ABSTRACT* The signature by Mexico, Canada and the United States of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993 established an institutionalized, continent-wide economic region roughly equivalent in size and population to the European Union. By its very creation, NAFTA opened up the possibility for scholars of European integration to add a comparative dimension to their research. Starting with the question whether the differences between North America and Europe are so great as to preclude their meaningful comparison (as implied by the expression, “apples and oranges”), this paper argues that there are enough commonalities between the two continental systems for the comparison of their differences to be analytically and intellectually fruitful. It goes on to propose many areas which Euroscholars might consider for future comparative study and offers as an example a case study by Jean Cushen of the differential impacts of the EU and NAFTA on Ireland’s and Canada’s labour markets. It would be difficult for me to list all the colleagues – scholars and students – who have helped me develop these ideas over the past few years.
    [Show full text]
  • History Senate Election
    SENATE EXPANDING THE BLUEPRINT FOR SENATE REFORM '99'99 for the record: Alberta’s 1998 senate election introduction “The first action taken by Pierre Elliot Trudeau as prime minister at his inaugural cabinet meeting in 1968 turned out to be prescient. He appointed his first senator...Trudeau told cabinet that despite the appointment, he still favoured Senate reform as promised during the election. As we now know, 30 years later, it never happened. In fact, Trudeau’s last action as prime minister 16 years after the cabinet meeting was to leave patronage appointments to the Senate for his successor John Turner. It played a major role in the Liberals’ brutal defeat in the 1984 election at the hands of Brian Mulroney and the Progressive Conservatives, who also promised reforms.” From a news article in the CALGARY HERALD, Feb 4/99, Pg. A8. Such is the story of Senate reform – while many Canadians express commitment to the idea, this “convoy” is not moving very fast. The road to meaningful Senate reform has been long, winding, and full of potholes, and while the debates, discussion, reports, conferences, and scandals have made for some pretty impressive scenery, the destination remains somewhere beyond the horizon. To be sure, the Meech Lake and Charlottetown Accords did propel us further down the road by securing a place for Senate reform on the national agenda, but that scenery too is fading from memory. And if the road were not yet bumpy enough, Ottawa continues to put up roadblocks by refusing to consider any alternatives to the Senate status quo.
    [Show full text]
  • Senate of Canada
    OF THE SENATE OF CANADA. 'l1hursday, 16th March, 1899. Thursday, the sixteenth clay of March, in the sixty-second year of the reign of Our Sovereign Lady Queen Victoria, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith, being the Fourth Session of the Eighth Parliament of the Dominion of Canada, as continued by Prorogation to this day. The Members in attendance in the Senate Chamber, in the City of Ottawa, were :- The Members convened were :- The Honourable Sir ClIARLES ALPHONSE PANYALi?ON PELLETIER, K.C. M.G., Speaker, The Honourable Messieurs Allan, Cochrane, r\lacdonalcl (P.E.I. ), Primrose, A11noi1, I)andurantl, Maclnnes, Yrowse, Brmand, Derer, Maclieen, Reid, Raird, Dickey, Mactlo~lald(B.C. ), Ross, Bitker, Dobson, MoKay, Sanford, Bellerose, I)ruln~no~~il, Mchlillan, Soctt, Bernier, Fiset, Mills, Temple, Bolduc, Forget, Montplaisir, Thibaucleau (cle la Boucherrille, ile (C.M.G. )Hingston (Sir \Villiam), O'Brien, ValliBre), Rowel1 (Sir Mackenzie), King, Owens, Thibaudeau (Rignud), Carmichael, Lnndry. Perley, Tidal, Casgrain, Lewin, Poirier, Villenenve, Clemow, Lougheecl, Power. Yeo. The .Honourable the Speaker presented to the Senate a co~nlnunicationfrom the Governor General's Secretary. The same was read by the Clerk, and it is as follows :- OTTAWA,14th March, 1899. SIR,-I have the hollour to inform you that His Excellency the Governor General will proceed to the Senate Chamber, to open the Session of the Dominion Parliament, on Thursday, the 16th instant, at 3 o'clock. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient servant, L. G. DHUMMOND, Major, G'ove~no~Gemrat's Secretary.
    [Show full text]
  • Nopa,Μ~E.: Sorqali:~
    Complimentary b i Fall 1 A Election coverage interviews with Audrey Mclaughlin Sheila Copps . ~. All-p~rty coverage of; Employm·ent Debt_ ·Healthcare refgrf::p·olicy En vi roJ1m:e1tt NAFTA Violen.ee: ' Abori.ginal Self Gov$rn·ment Social Pr9gr~ms Childcare Culture Humart Rights Agric·ullure Fisheri>es Abortion New Rl~p:ro· Also in thls Technologies::· issue:· .lmmigt.J:ltign .·ME!nopa,µ~e.: Sorqali:~. ··>·victory for:. Rape•·,crtslt· ·c··•· •.·.··.··•k··.·c· w·· e!n·tres .. u·c Uu' page 2 Fa/11993 Editor: Joan Riggs Womenspeak Managing Editor: Caitlin McMorran-Frost Editing and production staff: Catherine Browning, Saira Fitzgerald, Valerie Mclennon, Michelle Simms, Lynne Tyler, Viviane Weitzner. Dear Woman/st leadership of the Conservative Who helped with this issue: Lucy Chapman, Lyse party to make a difference. Blanchard, Noelle-Domenique Willems, Michelle Lemay, Laura Kim Campbell's clinching of Defence minister Campbell's McFarlane, Joanne Steven, Donna Truesdale. Alex Keir, Jane From Inside Out the Tory crown is not a victory new policy of zero incidence Vock, and Anne, Leah, Daniel, & Matthew Haynes. by Patricia Ellen for women in Canada. I do not has not changed anything for Cresswell agree that Campbell's win will victims of harassment and Special thanks to the people who have financially give women more courage to discrimination who have assisted us with this issue: Roberta Hill, Lil & Tim Tyler, have high expectations. grievances with the Canadian Campbell's win will not help Barbara Chapman, Lucy Chapman, Claire Fellows, Lucy Dear Womanist: Armed Forces. Fellows, Ted Riggs. women and girls to realize they I joined the (RCAF) Canadian can be winners too, in any field.
    [Show full text]
  • Canadian Politics at the 150Th Anniversary of Confederation
    ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ POLITICS SYMPOSIUM ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ Canadian Politics at the 150th Anniversary of Confederation ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ (4) The United States and Canada are disputing the ownership Blame Canada! An of an outcropping of rocks near Maine. In fact, Wikipedia has a page dedicated to “List of areas disputed by Canada Occasionally Serious and the United States,” which includes five items. (5) President Trump has pledged to renegotiate NAFTA, and while most commentary focuses on the US and Mexico, Overview of US-Canada trade between the US and Canada is larger. Both nations have much at stake, but Canada will be particularly wor- Relations ried about suffering collateral damage in a dispute that is largely about
    [Show full text]
  • The Right Honourable Edgar Peter Lougheed, Pc, Cc, Aoe, Qc
    -1- THE RIGHT HONOURABLE EDGAR PETER LOUGHEED, PC, CC, AOE, QC Date and place of birth (if available): Born July 26, 1928 Date and place of interview: April 13, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. at Mission Room, Lougheed House, Calgary Name of interviewer: Peter McKenzie-Brown Name of videographer: Peter Tombrowski Full names (spelled out) of all others present: N/A Consent form signed: Yes No PMB: Okay we are now recording. VIDEOGRAPHER: Okay, let me just start this. LOUGHEED: Do you mind if I refer to you as Peter, or do want me to use the last name? PMB: Oh by all means, please call me Peter. PMB: Mr. Lougheed would you please give us a brief summary of your career? LOUGHEED: [laughs] PMB: Now I know that’s a bit of a challenge. LOUGHEED: No that’s fine. Well I was born in Calgary. And my grandfather came here when there were only 100 people who were not Native Indian in Calgary and he came here actually before the Railway. And my Father was born in this very house we are sitting in right now, the Lougheed House on 13th Avenue, because my grandfather built this residence here. And there was my Father and his brothers and sister grew up in this very house, so they were very much a part of the growth of Calgary. And my grandfather from where we are sitting there was nothing between here and his office on Stephen Avenue, and he used to walk across way back, walk across right though the Prairies to the house.
    [Show full text]
  • Disaster Education
    Disaster Education Building Research Institute (BRI) National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) 2007 Disaster Education Building Research Institute (BRI) National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) 2007 Foreword Education and public awareness are the cornerstone of approaches aimed at reducing vulnerabilities to natural hazards. The Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters, adopted at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction, highlights knowledge and education as one of the five main priorities of action. Attention should be accorded, and support given to efforts targeting schoolchildren and youth with the aim of making people more aware of the threat of hazards and of the need and possibility to become better prepared before disasters strike. As we progress into the implementation of both the Hyogo Framework and the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD, 2005-2014), the pride of place that the international community, national academic institutions and educational establishments concerned with disaster risk reduction are giving to education is based on evidence that education contributes towards the knowledge and skills essential for disaster preparedness. The project which was carried out on Disaster Education by the Building Research Institute (BRI) and the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) in Japan is a timely and pioneering initiative. It proved to be a valuable effort to take stock of the status of education and disaster risk reduction worldwide and to review information collected, thus laying the foundations for refining future orientations in the integration of disaster preparedness into educational programmes. As the lead agency for the DESD and a primary partner of the United Nations Secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction in the 2006-2007 World Campaign "Disaster risk reduction begins at school”, UNESCO welcomes the initiative of BRI and GRIPS.
    [Show full text]
  • Complementarity: the Constitutional Role of the Senate of Canada
    SENATE SENAT The Honourable V. Peter Harder P.C. L’honorable V. Peter Harder C.P. Government Representative in the Senate Représentant du gouvernement au Sénat CANADA Complementarity: The Constitutional Role of the Senate of Canada April 12, 2018 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 2 A. Complement to the House: A Constitutional Role Rooted in the 7 Appointive Principle B. In the Senate, Self-Restraint is the Constitutional Watchword 11 C. The Senate’s Power to Amend, Legislate and Influence Public Policy 17 D. We “Ping”, But We Generally Ought not “Pong” 28 E. A Prudent Yet Vigilant Approach to Fiscal and Budgetary Initiatives 30 i. Restricted Access to the Purse Strings 30 ii. A Tradition of Vigilance and Self-Restraint on Confidence and 31 Budgetary Matters iii. The Omnibus Caveats 33 F. The Senate Extraordinary and Rarely Used Power to Defeat 37 Government Legislation G. Democratic Deference to the Government’s Election Platform 41 H. Private Members’ Bills and the Senate’s “Pocket” Veto 47 Epilogue: Better Serving Canadians 49 Complementarity: The Constitutional Role of the Senate of Canada April 2018 - Page 1 of 51 INTRODUCTION “If we enact legislation speedily, we are called rubber stamps. If we exercise the constitutional authority which the Senate possesses under the British North America Act, we are told that we are doing something that we have no right to do. I do not know how to satisfy our critics.” The late former Senator Carl Goldenberg, Senate Debates of January 11, 1974 Many senators are working hard to close a credibility gap that was created by many difficult years and prove the Senate’s public value as an appointed upper chamber.
    [Show full text]
  • The Lay of the Land an Inventory of Federal and Provincial Land Stewardship Policy in Western Canada
    The Lay of the Land An Inventory of Federal and Provincial Land Stewardship Policy in Western Canada Geneva Rae, Policy Analyst Bethany Beale, Intern May 2007 This report is part of the Canada West Foundation’s Land Stewardship Initiative—a two-year research and communications endeavour focused on the role of public policy in facilitating land stewardship in western Canada. Land stewardship is the practice of responsible land usage to ensure that natural capital is maintained or enhanced for future generations. Land stewardship policies are actions taken by government that require, enable or encourage land users to manage land in ways that maintain or enhance natural capital for future generations. Funding for the Land Stewardship Initiative has been provided by the Agriculture and Food Council of Alberta and the Investment Agriculture Foundation of British Columbia under Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food (ACAAF) program, Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc., Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, AltaLink, Arthur J. E. Child Foundation, Ducks Unlimited Canada, EnCana Corporation, Shell Canada Limited, Suncor Energy Foundation, and Westcorp Inc. The Canada West Foundation expresses its sincere appreciation for this generous support. Canada West Foundation Policy Analyst Geneva Rae and Intern Bethany Beale prepared this report. The authors would like to thank Shelley Willson for her contributions to this study and Loleen Berdahl and Robert Roach for their editorial comments. The opinions expressed in this document are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Canada West Foundation’s Board of Directors, advisors, or funders. Permission to use or reproduce this report is granted for personal or classroom use without fee and without formal request provided that it is properly cited.
    [Show full text]
  • Canada's Location in the World System: Reworking
    CANADA’S LOCATION IN THE WORLD SYSTEM: REWORKING THE DEBATE IN CANADIAN POLITICAL ECONOMY by WILLIAM BURGESS BA (Hon.), Queens University, 1978 MA (Plan.), University of British Columbia, 1995 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES Department of Geography We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA January 2002 © William Burgess, 2002 Abstract Canada is more accurately described as an independent imperialist country than a relatively dependent or foreign-dominated country. This conclusion is reached by examining recent empirical evidence on the extent of inward and outward foreign investment, ownership links between large financial corporations and large industrial corporations, and the size and composition of manufacturing production and trade.
    [Show full text]
  • A Chamber of Though and Actions
    CANADA’S SENATE A Chamber of THOUGHT AND ACTION © 2019 Senate of Canada I 1-800-267-7362 I [email protected] 2 ABOUT THE SENATE The Senate is the Upper House in Canada’s Senators also propose their own bills and generate Parliament. It unites a diverse group of discussion about issues of national importance in accomplished Canadians in service the collegial environment of the Senate Chamber, of their country. where ideas are debated on their merit. Canada’s first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, The Senate was created to ensure Canada’s regions famously called it a chamber of sober second thought were represented in Parliament. Giving each region but it is much more than that. It is a source of ideas, an equal number of seats was meant to prevent inspiration and legislation in its own right. the more populous provinces from overpowering the smaller ones. Parliament’s 105 senators shape Canada’s future. Senators scrutinize legislation, suggest improvements Over the years, the role of senators has evolved. and fix mistakes. In a two-chamber parliament, the Senate In addition to representing their region, they also acts as a check on the power of the prime minister and advocate for underrepresented groups like cabinet. Any bill must pass both houses — the Senate Indigenous peoples, visible and linguistic and the House of Commons — before it can become law. minorities, and women. There shall be one Parliament for Canada, consisting of the Queen, an Upper House styled the Senate, and the House of Commons. Constitution Act, 1867, section 17 3 HISTORY Canada would not exist were it not for the Senate.
    [Show full text]