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The Senate consists of
105 members, appointed by the Government, on a regional
basis with 24 from Quebec, 24 from Ontario, 24 from the
Maritimes and 24 from the West with the remainder being
allotted to Newfoundland and the territories. It was
deliberately set up to give the regions equality of
representation; hence the provision that Senators must
reside in the province for which they are appointed (in
Quebec, they must reside or have their property
qualification in the particular district for which they
are appointed).
The Maritime provinces
and Quebec insisted on equality in the Upper House to
counterbalance the weight of Ontario in the Lower House,
where representation was to be based on population.
Without the Senate, and a Senate based on regional
equality, there would have been no Confederation.
The Senate was intended not only to
protect the less populous regions but also to protect
the long-term interests of the country against rash,
hasty or ill-considered legislation passed by a House of
Commons carried away by gusts of popular passion. It was
to provide "the second thoughts" of the country. For
that reason, the British North American Act provided
that Senators must be at least 30 years old, and must
have what was in 1867 a considerable property
qualification: $4,000 worth of real estate free of
mortgage, and $4,000 worth of real estate and other
property free of all debts. These requirements still
hold. All bills
must be passed by the Senate before they can become law
and it has the constitutional right to reject any bill,
and keep on rejecting it as often as it sees fit. It can
also amend any bill, although it cannot initiate or
increase the amount of any bill dealing with taxation or
expenditure.
Most of the Senate's legislative work is done by its
committees. Once a bill has been accepted in principle,
it almost always goes to one of the standing committees
set up each session. There it is examined in detail. The
Minister and officials concerned are questioned, in
public, and, if the committee thinks it necessary, any
person or organization wishing to be heard can submit a
brief, or appear and make representations. On very
important or complex bills, the Senate committee may
receive as many as a hundred briefs and hear over
a hundred witnesses. This may result in a large number
of amendments, none of them, as a rule, affecting the
principle of the bill, but many of them substantial:
clarifying, simplifying, making the measure fairer and
more workable.
For such work the Senate is notably well qualified. Many
of its members are former Ministers (federal or
provincial) or former members of the House of Commons or
provincial legislatures. many others have long
experience of business or law or both. The Senate is, in
fact, a reservoir of men and women or proven
capacity; it is not under the same day to day pressure
as the House of Common; and party lines are nothing like
so strongly drawn as in the Commons.
In recent years, the Senate has
increasingly taken another function of great importance,
which the Fathers of Confederation did not contemplate.
This is the investigation of public questions of high
importance on which the Government is not yet prepared
to act. Any Senator can raise any question for
discussion on the floor of the House, and this
discussion often ends by referring the matter either to
the appropriate standing committee or to a special
committee set up for the purpose. These committees equip
themselves with a staff of professional experts on the
subject concerned, and make a study in depth, sometimes
taking more than a year in the process. Their reports,
which are conspicuously free of partisanship, are
usually comprehensive and thorough, and often propose
far reaching new departures in public policy.
The existence of the
Senate provides, incidentally, a special safeguard for
the smaller provinces. The Canadian constitution
guarantees to every province, regardless of its
population, at least as many members in the House of
Commons as it has in the Senate. Thanks to this
provision, Prince Edward Island still has four members
in the Commons instead of the single member it would get
on the basis of population.
The Senate was never intended to be
anything like the equal of the House of Commons. No one
ever suggested that the Cabinet should be responsible to
the Senate, or should resign or ask for dissolution of
Parliament because of a defeat in the Senate. Until
about 1900, however, the Senate played a much more
important role than it does now. The first Cabinet had
five Senators to eight Commoners; twice (1891-1892 and
1894-1896) a Senator was Prime Minister; by 1896, every
portfolio except finance had been held by a Senator, and
there were usually three or four Senators in the
Cabinet. Since 1911, as a rule, there has been only one
Senator in the much larger modern Cabinets. this has
helped to take the Senate out of the mainstream of
politics, especially since most legislation is now
initiated by the Government, and involves the
expenditure of money. Ministers prefer to introduce
their bills in the Commons, even though, since 1947, it
has been possible for Ministers from the Commons to
speak, though not to vote, in the Senate. |
