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Hand in the cookie jar

June 21, 2013   ·   1 Comments

Dear editor:

Recently we have heard a great deal about members of all three levels of government who have been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. These disclosures have led to demands for political reform. People are getting fed up with ever increasing taxes largely resulting from the spending of millions of dollars on projects and expense claims that should never have seen the light of day. The most recent scandal is due to excessive taken by some Senates.

This has renewed the argument that it should be abolished. Frankly to do this the legislation would probably have to be passed by every province and the territories. It probably has as much chance of getting that approval as the survival of a snow ball in a blast furnace. The best bet is that it could be amended to become an institution that the general public had more faith in.

Few understand the roll of the Senate which is to review legislation approved by the Commons prior to it being approved as law. They do not have the power to put the government in grid lock like the American Senate.. The Canadian Senate’s role is as follows:

Introduction: The process begins when a bill is introduced in the Senate.

First Reading: The bill is “read” for the first time, without debate, and printed.

Second Reading: The principle of the bill is debated. It is then voted on and the bill is sent to a Senate committee.

Committee Stage: A committee hears witnesses, examines the bill clause by clause, and submits a report recommending the bill be accepted as is, or with amendments, or that it not proceed any further.

Report Stage: Additional amendments to the bill may be moved, debated and voted on.

Third Reading: The bill is debated a final time and voted on.

Message: Once passed, the bill is either sent to the House of Commons for approval (in the cases of bills introduced first in the Senate), or sent to the Governor General for Royal Assent (in the case of bills that were previously approved by the House).

Royal Assent: The Governor General, or a deputy, gives the bill Royal Assent, meaning that the legislation officially becomes law.

The American Senate has only two members a state however our provinces are much larger therefore perhaps we should only have four per province or territory this would reduce the body from 105 to around 48 and as a Senator ‘s basic salary is $135,000.00/year we would save $7,706,400.00. Also we could require a Senator to be elected and his/her term be limited to 10 years. His/her expenditures should also be subject to audit by the Auditor General. Not that we don’t trust them but we must make sure that they are not embarrassed for unintentionally wandering off the Crowns financial guidelines.

This branch of government has a real tough role to play and one in which we must have total confidence therefore it should represent the make up of Canada and 50% of its members should be women and as far as possible it should be based on representative government which means it should encompass representatives from every party Conservatives, Liberals N.D.P. and the Green party. After all one would like a cross section of the country represented.

Tom Carter

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