Time to abolish the Senate?
Re Senators played by own rules, June 10 As a Canadian I am angry. As a taxpayer, my tax dollars are being used to fund an upper chamber wherein some have deemed it their pastime to see how much more taxpayers will cover, from expensive breakfasts to incidentals that most of us would never dream of asking another to pay for.
A senator’s income, while not insanely lucrative as some of the top CEOs, is adequate enough to make life comfortable. They, like most parliamentarians, can look forward to a pension that will ease them contentedly into retirement. Yet, some still feel the compulsion to nickel and dime Canadians for as much as they can creatively justify as expenses.
We live in a world of want, where many do not have sanitation and clean water. Many of our indigenous people’s reserves have inadequate housing, poor sanitation, and they are forced to pay insane prices for food and incidentals that senators would like to expense to the taxpayer for, providing it is on company time.
I am tired of watching successive prime ministers appoint senators as a way to reward party faithful for their support and watching the Senate implode with one scandal and another.
I am annoyed that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has thrown up his hands saying he can do nothing. It is time to take some of the stuffing out of the padded chairs of the Red Chamber and to hold them accountable. The Rev. Donald Shields, Whitby, Ont.
“Just when you thought Stephen Harper’s hypocrisy had sunk as low as possible, he amazes us with his attempt to distance himself from the Senate scandal by saying it’s none of his business.” MICHAEL FARRELL OAKVILLE
When did it happen that honourable people needed rules to determine right from wrong? I would think that the majority of Canadians try to live by a code of honour, honesty, fairness and dignity without absolute rules to govern their actions. So much more then should senators.
What I once considered one of the nation’s highest honours, to be a senator — a dignified, experienced, wise, caring, honest to a fault citizen, a kind of tribal elder — I now see with loathing and disgust. Absolute rules may make them stay within the legal limits, but rules will never make them “honest” or honourable. Shame on them. Canadians deserve better! Lloyd Hanna, Oshawa A number of issues have undermined Canadians’ trust and confidence in both the upper chamber and Stephen Harper.
1. Senate rules are vague and allow broad discretion for senators to spend money as they see fit.
2. An ever-increasing number of senators have submitted disputed expense claims for private activities, such as family weddings and trips, that access public funds and have nothing to do with Senate business. This shameful behaviour is reflected in a culture marked by a clear disregard for the rules in place.
3. Asking these senators to reimburse the Senate should be accompanied by other measures, including expulsion, if it becomes a pattern of behaviour. In the regular workforce, many workers would be fired for making misleading claims.
4. Not only did Harper promise to reform the Senate but he hand-picked many of these senators and methodically shifted the onus of solving this problem to his subordinates, the courts, and the RCMP. Perhaps that is one reason why some of Harper’s ministers and staff have jumped ship.
The opposition should make Harper’s warped judgment and failed leadership become key issues in this fall’s election. Robert Ariano, Scarborough The probe into Senate expenses uncovered $991,917 in “questionable claims.” The auditors report claims that $400,000 “could have been saved.” The probe cost $23.5 million. While not supporting inappropriate expenses by Senators or anyone else feeding at the government trough, it is absolutely ludicrous that we would spend $23.5 million trying to figure out who is to blame. Senate salaries are $18 million per year. If we had banned it two years ago we would have saved $36 million in salaries and $23.5 million in audit expenses, not to mention the $991,917. Add the cost of the Duffy inquest and we could be talking “real money” pretty soon. Gregory J. Glenn, Stouffville, Ont. The Duffy trial reveals that senators have been accepting “backdoor” payments for personal expenses. These are sneakily made by “friends” under the guise of larger legitimate government billings. This sounds like non-specific, future oriented bribery to me. “I pay these little costs for you now, and you help get my outrageous contracts approved later.” If that does not describe bribery, I cannot imagine what does.
At least in openly corrupt republics the bribes are a reasonable percentage of the fraudulent advantage. In Canada, it sounds like paying a $500 cellphone bill opens the floodgates.
Hey senators, if you are going to be crooked, at least do it honestly. Edward A. Collis, Burlington, Ont. I’m not an NDP supporter but I’m with Thomas Mulcair on this one: abolish the Senate. It’s high time to get rid of this institution of aging politicians who use their position to catch up on sleep, just as it’s high time to modify this antique document that we call our Constitution.
If only he didn’t believe that money grows on trees, I might vote for him. Claude Gannon, Markham, Ont. Abolishing the Senate constitutionally impossible? But it could be easy. There are already about 20 unfilled seats. If all federal party leaders promised to make no new appointments, within a few years, there would be no Senate. Douglas Buck, Toronto Apart from racking up expenses, what exactly does a senator do? Charles Cook, Toronto The real scandal is letting the auditor general spend $23.5 million in the first place. Who was watching (auditing) him? Looks like he lost sight of the forest for the trees. As the auditor general has said, “I am struck by the overall lack of transparency and accountability around senators’ expenses.” You could just as well lump in the auditor general with the senators in this statement. Hal Finlayson, London, Ont. Who can we trust anymore? In government our elected members deny previous statements, senators interpreting Senate allowances for personal gain, well-respected journalists not living up to the image they want us to see. My cynicism has grown and I have difficulty trusting anyone in public service regardless of political affiliation. Judy Cathcart, Flesherton, Ont. It is ironic that the same day the Senate stands accused of insufficient public oversight, the Senate passed the Conservatives’ Bill C-51, which also has insufficient public oversight.
In the case of the Senate, Canadians will have to pay through their taxes for this mess. In the case of Bill C-51, we will have to pay with our freedom and infringement of our constitutional rights. It is time to replace this government with politicians committed to repeal Bill C-51 and drastic reform of the Senate. Karl Hassenbach, Acton, Ont. This morning I believed we needed to retain the Senate as the chamber of sober second thought. I thought that the Senate would at least consider amendments to Harper’s draconian Bill C-51. Many senators did not even bother to show up to discuss and vote on the amendments.
Tom Walkom is right. It’s time to abolish the Senate. Kevin Dunbar, Renfrew, Ont. Now we hear that a particular senator shredded documents before handing them over to auditors. This inspires my ire. It has to be the “last straw.” These senators not only broken laws, but have betrayed the trust of all Canadians. Edward Kopec, Toronto By repaying fraudulently claimed expenses, the senators are nothing but thieves who got caught. If an employee did it, he would be fired and charged with fraud.
The Canadian House of Lords! Amen. Emanuel D. Samuel, North York The real House of Horrors is the Commons. Fix the Commons with proportional representation and then we will have a body that can competently deal with the Senate, with the support of a truly representative majority of Canadians. The Senate is just a reflection of the mismanagement in the Commons. Its impact on Canada and Canadians is relatively small. P. E. McGrail, Brampton Just when you thought Stephen Harper’s hypocrisy had sunk as low as possible, he amazes us with his attempt to distance himself from the Senate scandal by saying it’s none of his business. After all, all he had to do with it was: appoint senators from provinces they did not represent; send them flying all over the country on the public dime to do Conservative campaigning and help deliver his 2011 false majority; say it’s “good to go” on his second-in-command’s plan to pay $90,000 to cover up part of the mess; and stage manage the whole sordid attempt by Senate committees to make it all go away.
Maybe we should check more closely in the latest omnibus budget bill. There might be a clause hidden in there retroactively clearing Harper from any wrongdoing in Senate affairs. Michael Farrell, Oakville It is beyond an outrage to hear that some of the Upper House’s alleged culprits in this widespread scandal were all set to lead the actual investigation into the wrongdoing. Even FIFA’s Sepp Blatter would be impressed by this display of gall. Richard Green, Thornbury, Ont.