News
The Alberta Senate and Senate Reform
"A conservative government will not appoint to the senate anyone who does not have a mandate from the people."
- Conservative Party website during 2006 election
From the Prime Minister
August 27th, 2009 - PM acts to fill Senate vacancies
Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced the appointments of nine distinguished Canadians to serve in Canada’s Senate...
December 22nd, 2008 - Prime Minister Harper Acts to Fill Senate Vacancies
Ottawa - Prime Minister Harper today announced that he will appoint 18 distinguished Canadians to serve in Canada’s Senate...
From the Press
PM's Senate stack a sad little affair
"When he anoints his very own Hallelujah Chorus to represent Canadians in the Senate in the coming days, Prime Minister Stephen Harper will have delivered his most compelling argument for electing senators." - Don Martin, National Post
Harper set to make Senate appointments
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is preparing to reward some of his longest-serving and most loyal political operatives with Senate appointments that could come as early as this week." - Canwest News Service
Harper picking favourites for Senate spots
"Prime Minister Stephen Harper is picking favourites. Reports say Harper is about to fill vacant spots in the Senate with some of his closest Conservative supporters... This marks the second time Harper has appointed new Senators when the Commons is not sitting, allowing him to escape opposition attacks in the house. Three days before last Christmas, Harper named 18 Tories to the Liberal-dominated senate." - 680 News All News Radio
Harper appoints 9 to Senate
"Harper deflected questions Thursday about the cronyism. He would only say that he will appoint people willing to support his minority government and its ongoing attempts at Senate reform." - Richard H. Brennan, Toronto Star
Harper names Tory pals to Senate
"When he was in opposition, Harper said he would never make patronage appointments to the Senate." - Canadian Press
Harper Names New Senators, Including Campaign Manager
"Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed nine members to the country’s Senate, including the director of his party’s last two election campaigns and his former spokeswoman, saying they will help pass crime bills being stalled by opposition parties." - Greg Quinn, Bloomberg
Ex-coach, Tory insiders among new senators
"Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who has railed against the Senate and championed a plan to make it an elected body, has appointed some of his closest Conservative insiders to the Red Chamber... " - CTV
"Stephen Harper once called the Senate a "dumping ground" for political cronies.
Stuffing the Senate
There he goes again. After stuffing the Senate with Conservative bagmen, backroomers and election losers barely eight months ago, Prime Minister Stephen Harper was dishing out the $132,000 cash-for-life prizes again yesterday, vaulting yet more cronies into cushy places instead of naming people who are respected leaders in their fields."
- Editorial, The Star
Harper names 9 to Senate including ex-Habs coach
"Harper largely rewarded some of his longest-serving and most loyal partisans with Senate appointments... " David Akin, Canwest News Service
Senate appointees include Habs ex-coach, journalist
"Harper has been accused of hypocrisy for his Senate appointments. In the past, he has called for senators to be elected, rather than appointed by the prime minister as is the current practice, or for the body to be abolished if changes couldn't be made." - CBC
Harper looks to even out the Senate
"The appointments are hard to digest for a number of supporters of the Conservative Party and its predecessor parties, the Reform Party and the Canadian Alliance." - Daniel Leblanc, Globe and Mail
From our Province...
Sen. Bert Brown
" After fighting three elections to win a spot as a senator-in-waiting, Bert Brown has got the job for real this time. Prime Minister Stephen Harper told the House of Commons on Wednesday he will appoint Brown to the upper chamber."... He has run in all three of Alberta's Senate elections since the first, twice as a Progressive Conservative, in 1989 and 2004, and once as a Reform candidate, in 1998, when he was first elected. He was re-elected as a so-called senator-in-waiting in 2004, earning 14.34 per cent of the vote in a field of nominees that also included Betty Unger, Cliff Breitkreuz and Link Byfield... "My short-term goal is what my long-term goal has been for 24 years, which is to democratize the Senate," said Brown, who in the late 1980s plowed the defiant message "EEE or else" in a neighbour's barley field beneath the Calgary International Airport flight path..." Long road finally leads Bert Brown to Senate, B. Mah, Edmonton Journal, April 19th, 2007
"I think that we should have the privilege of electing them (the Senate) because in a parliamentary democracy one of the fundamentals is electing the people that represent you." - The Macleans.ca Interview: Bert Brown, July 18th, 2007
Senate Nominee Official Election Results 2004
2 Number of votes cast = 2,176,341
3 Number of valid ballots = 714,709
4 Number of spoiled ballots = 8,303
5 Number of declined ballots = 85,937
6 Number of ballots not used = 1,390,053
7 Number of rejected ballots = 84,643
8 Number of ballots removed from polling place = 479
9 Number of ballots sent to each poll = 2,284,124
Summary:
Bert Brown = 312,041 (14.34% of the vote)
No votes or ballots (spoiled, declined, rejected, removed) = 179,362 (7.85%)
Valid votes vs. number of ballots = 714,709 vs. 2,284,124 (31.29%)
Unused votes vs. number of ballots = 1,390,053 vs. 2,284,124 (60.08%)
The Honourable Dan Hays, P.C.
Senator Hays was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, and continues to reside there. Appointed to the Senate by Pierre Trudeau in 1984, he has chaired a number of Senate committees, including the Special Committee on Senate Reform from June 2006 to October 2006. He was Deputy Leader of the Government from 1999 to 2001, Speaker of the Senate from 2001 to 2006 and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate from 2006 until 2007. His father, the late Honourable Harry Hays, P.C., was a Member of Parliament and Minister of Agriculture from 1963 to 1965, and served in the Senate from 1966 to 1982.
"According to Senator Hays, the Senate is a vehicle of public service because it has such an important role to play in representing the regions of Canada, investigating matters of public interest, and bringing forward meaningful legislation, although he conceded that there is certainly much work to be done to fully reform the Senate and make it a truly modern legislative body for the twenty-first century." - Western Law Lecture Series Spring Term 2004-2005
May 25th, 2007(Afterward of June 27th, 2007) "Renewing the Senate of Canada: A Two-Phase Proposal." by Sen. Dan Hays
March 6th, 2002 Senate Debates - The Modern Senate of Canada: A Study in Functional Adaptability."
For more on Senate reform click here.
Special Committee on Senate Reform
Chair, Senator Dan Hays
39th Parliament, 1st Session (April 3, 2006 - September 14, 2007)
Mandate and Committee Proceedings
Reports
Alberta's Senators
Sen. Tommy Banks
Sen. Bert Brown
Sen. Joyce Fairbairn
Sen. Grant Mitchell
Sen. Elaine McCoy
Sen. Claudette Tardiff
About Parliament - Parliament of Canada
Parliamentary Process - Canada's Parliament at work
« … an Upper House styled the Senate … »
During the debates which led to Confederation in 1867, Sir John A. Macdonald, who would become Canada’s first Prime Minister, pointed to the primary purpose of the Senate as “calmly considering the legislation initiated by the popular branch, and preventing any hasty or ill-considered legislation which may come from that body”. The Senate’s intended role was also to safeguard regional, provincial and minority interests.
Some basic facts about the Senate include:
- It has 105 members of different political parties, as well as independents. They are summoned by the Governor General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.
- Senate seats are allocated to provide each region of the country with equal representation. Over half of the seats in the Senate are distributed to the less populated parts of the country, complementing the representation-by-population basis of the House of Commons.
- Senators must be over 30 years of age, must own property and must reside in the region they represent. Like judges, their independence is protected by tenure until the age of 75.
- Senators participate in debates in the Senate Chamber, review legislation and government estimates and investigate policy matters and issues of concern to Canadians in committee, discussing party policy and strategy in caucus meetings.
- Bills can be introduced in the Senate unless they raise or allocate public funds. To become law, a bill must be passed by both the Senate and the House of Commons before receiving Royal Assent in the Senate.
- from The Institutions, Inside Canada's Parliament
Library of Parliament
events
LETHBRIDGE: the Lethbridge Federal Liberal Association Candidate Selection MeetingAugust 7, 2010
Registration at 10:00am/meeting immediately after RED DEER: LPCA Governing Council Meeting
September 11, 2010 LPCA Governing Council Meeting
November 27, 2010 OTTAWA, ONT: June 15 to 19, 2011 - Biennial Convention of the Liberal Party of Canada: "Toward a Party Renewed"
June 15, 2011