NDP rails against delays to BC's Northern West Coast Tanker Ban
Unelected senators' vote against B.C. tanker ban threatens 'heart of democracy,' MP says
NDP Says Democracy Threatened By 'Unelected Senators' Vote Against BC's Northern West Coast Tanker Ban
Sat, 2019-05-18 13:05
#1
NDP Says Democracy Threatened By 'Unelected Senators' Vote Against BC's Northern West Coast Tanker Ban
Sat, 2019-05-18 17:49
#2
And again, the fatal flaw in fighting to abolish the Senate is that a Senate abolition bill would have to pass the Senate. No appointed gravy train of a legislative body is going to vote to put itself out of a no-show job and stop getting the gravy.
Sat, 2019-05-18 18:03
#3
Quebec's did (if I remember correctly, the price was quite literal: paying everyone who sat in it what they'd get if they'd hung around until retirement).
Sat, 2019-05-18 18:15
#4
Quebec's did (if I remember correctly, the price was quite literal: paying everyone who sat in it what they'd get if they'd hung around until retirement).
You are correct the Senate could be bought off literally as occurred in Quebec.
A glance at the media coverage from 1968 suggests that, even back then, few tears were spilled over the end of an era.
The opposition Liberals weren’t especially exercised about the demise of the council. They were haggling over the price. They were upset at the cost of the payoff, which amounted to $10,000 a year for regular councillors and $12,000 for ex-Speakers and caucus leaders in the Union Nationale-controlled chamber. They wanted the buyout limited to regular pension rates of $3,400-$8,300, and calculated the cost of the Union Nationale plan at $1.25 million above the regular pension rate.
Liberal Leader Jean Lesage said: “This is an unjustified and unjustifiable gift. I can’t vote for this.”
But that’s not even what most upset his troops about the bill. Quebecers today might be surprised about what really angered the Liberals, and what arguably drew more media coverage — another provision in the bill to rebrand the legislature with its current name, the Quebec “national assembly.”
https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/how-quebec-abolished-its-senate-in-o...
But the same article notes it would be more difficult than simply buying off the Senate because some provinces perceive their over-representation on a population basis gives them an advantage that is backed up by the Constitution and the Supreme Court sadly. Getting the provinces is much, much bigger problem.