Speaker's Report

Winter 2005 Issue A report of activities from Senator Dan Hays Honouring the 26th Governor General On September 26, the Honourable our greatest admiration and deserv- Dan Hays, Speaker of the Senate, paid ing of our deepest appreciation. tribute to Canada’s 26th Governor But the Crown is not only a sym- General, the Right Honourable bol of excellence and unity, it is also, Adrienne Clarkson. Below is the speech by its nature: "the supreme executive he delivered. power of the state, lying above the structure of government and de- ● ● ● signed as a point in the Constitution Dear Readers, from which other powers are created, I am honoured to stand with my 1 measured and controlled. " Govern- colleague and friend, Speaker Mil- Canada’s 38th Parliament came to ments come and go, the Crown re- liken, to have this opportunity to ex- an end on the 29th of November, mains as a power that safeguards press our good wishes on behalf of having lasted 17 months (on average, laws and implements their provi- parliamentarians who served during minority governments last 18 sions. As representatives of the your mandate. months). While it has been indeed a Crown, governors general must be The Crown is not only a symbol busy and interesting time for all unfailingly judicious in exercising of the continuity of Canada’s history, parliamentarians, it has also been a their significant prerogatives, powers from Samuel de Champlain in 1627 busy time for the Office of the and influence, which are key aspects right up to today, but it is also an Speaker of the Senate. Since the be- of our parliamentary system. And, as important symbol of unity, and it ginning of 2005, I have met with the record clearly shows, your Excel- reminds us of what is best and most over 35 Speakers / Presiding Offi- lency, you have exercised the roles admirable in the Canadian ideal. cers, 25 Ambassadors and High and responsibilities of the Crown I would like to extend a very Commissioners and 3 heads of State with utmost care, competence and warm welcome to this farewell cere- or Heads of Government in my ca- intelligence. mony in honour of a viceregal cou- pacity as Speaker. I also had the hon- Your Excellency, as the second ple who, in representing this national our to represent Canada, either as woman to be appointed governor ideal with grace, passion and dedica- Senate Speaker or on behalf of the general, as the first person of Chi- tion, proved themselves worthy of Prime Minister, in 16 different coun- nese descent, as the first who came tries. As well, there have been 72 to this country as a refugee, as the In this Issue Senate sittings and I have made 9 first without a military or political rulings as Presiding Officer. 2 The United States Senate background to fill that position, you I invite you to read on, in particu- 4 Diplomatic Corner have not only broken new ground, lar I draw your attention to the piece 8 Alberta Round-up but have also, as some have said, on the United States Senate. I wish 10 2005: The Year of the been "one of the best, if not the best you a happy holiday season. Veteran governor general in our history." 11 Changing Faces 12 Canada’s new Governor General F Document disponible en français ► Continued on page 3 Page 2 Speaker’s Report Winter 2005 The United States Senate The following is the latest in our series of articles examining different senates of the world. In this issue, we examine the United States Senate. The United States Senate is con- Members of the House would be American life remoulded the Senate sidered the most powerful upper leg- elected by the people, whereas sena- from a towering deliberative body to islative chamber in the world. Cre- tors would be elected by state legis- a controversial bastion of privilege ated in 1789, its evolution provides latures. The powers of each chamber tainted by corruption and influ- an interesting case study for those were to be co-equal; however, intro- ence.3” The war had given a power- who, like me, have an interest in sen- ducing money bills would be a pre- ful impetus to the development of ates and senate reform. rogative of the House, while the Sen- national industries and economic Although the US has one of the ate would have exclusive power to organizations, which in turn sought oldest bicameral governments in the confirm or reject presidential ap- to exert political influence, and to world, the country’s first congress pointments to the federal executive “block or divert government action was actually unicameral. Under the and judiciary, and to ratify treaties. harmful to their interests and foster Articles of Confederation of 1781, And even if it had been vested government action beneficial to the country’s first governing docu- with greater powers, the Senate at them.4” ment, each state was equally repre- first remained subordinate to the By the late 19th century, reform- sented in Congress, and each had a House of Representatives. However, ers were arguing that the Senate was veto over most action. However, the this changed between 1809 and becoming unworkable due to, among Articles made governing the new 1829, when the “Senate was trans- other things, state legislatures trying country difficult, since they had cre- formed from a reactive upper cham- to control senators’ conduct, special ated a weak federal government ber to a proactive legislature.1” interests manipulating state legisla- lacking power to ensure states pro- Much of this had to do with the addi- tures’ choice of senators, and the vided the troops or revenue re- tion of new states, with the House of difficulty legislatures sometimes had quested. Representatives getting bigger and in choosing senators. Although re- As a result, Congress summoned more unwieldy, and with the Senate quests for the popular election of a Constitutional Convention in 1787 becoming proportionally more pow- senators had been made as early as to create a more effective frame- erful. the Constitutional Convention of work. The Convention’s delibera- Between 1819 and 1859, the Sen- 1787, and throughout the 19th cen- tions focused on two options. The ate experienced what historians have tury, it was only in 1900 that it be- first, the Virginia Plan, favored the called its Golden Age, due to the came the “goal desired by the major- large states and, among other things, great importance of debates that took ity of the nation, yet bitterly opposed provided for representation by popu- place there, and the brilliance of by the Senate.5” In fact, each of the lation and a bicameral legislature, those who participated in them – five amendments proposed by the where the lower house would be most notably Senators Daniel Web- House of Representatives between elected by the people and the upper ster, Henry Clay and John Calhoun, 1893 and 1902 was rejected by the house would be elected by the lower known as the “Great Triumvirate.” Senate. house. The second option, the New And during those forty years, “the The push for the successful direct Jersey Plan, favored the small states. Senate held centre stage in the great election of the Senate began in the It provided for a unicameral legisla- arena of American history, becoming State of Oregon in 1901, when re- ture vested with new taxation pow- the focus and balance wheel of gov- formers managed to enact a law that ers, where each state would have an ernment [because it was there] that would allow voters to express their equal number of votes. were enacted the great compromises choice for senator. This law created Following lengthy deliberations a that, for forty years, pulled the Union primary elections for senators, compromise was struck. Known as back from the edge of abyss2.” Com- which, however, had no legal force the “Great Compromise,” the plan promises that mostly had to do with and could only advise the legislature provided for a bicameral legislature, allowing certain states to maintain of the people’s choice. Despite the with a House of Representatives to slavery, and which, though they system’s early failures, reformers ensure that each state had a number managed to delay the Civil War, persisted and were ultimately suc- of seats in proportion to its popula- could not prevent it. cessful in having the people’s choice tion, and a Senate providing each However, “with the end of the for senator ratified by the state legis- state with the same number of seats. Civil War, changing conditions in lature in 1907. Other states soon fol- Winter 2005 Speaker’s Report Page 3 lowed, and by 1912 as many as 29 Although several important References states had elected senators. reforms, including two other consti- The popular election of senators tutional amendments, have affected 1. The Encyclopedia of the United States Congress, Volume 2, Simon and Shus- created a new dynamic in the Senate. the Senate, the Seventeenth Amend- ter, New York, 1995, p. 988. Since they had been directly elected, ment is arguably the one which most 2. Cato, Robert, The Years of Lyndon new senators would be more suppor- profoundly changed its nature. Johnson: Master of the Senate, Knopf, tive of a constitutional amendment to The American experience pro- New York, 2002, p. 16 3. Palmer, K.E., Constitutional Amend- entrench Senate elections. In 1911, vides useful lessons for Canadians, ments, 1789 to the Present, Gale Group, Kansas Senator Joseph Bristow ta- but a variety of factors, such as the Detroit, 2000, p.

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