Reforming the Senate (Pols 204)
Reforming the Senate
Intro The Senate’s purpose is to be a second thought on legislative proposals after the House of Commons.[1] Members of the Senate are supposed to be a check and balance on the House of Commons. The Father of Confederacy designed the Senate for that reason. They are to be always checking on the other chamber and making sure legislation is going as it should be. Bicameral legislatures are common throughout the world and date back to early as the seventeen hundreds. Such countries as the United States of America (1787), German Confederation (1871), Australia (1901), Germany (1949), and India (1950).[2] Having a “…second chamber promotes democracy and protects democracy and protects minority rights by curbing high-handedness and arrogance in Cabinet and Commons.”[3] The Senate is a second chamber that the founder’s of this country envisioned and it serves as a check on the House and is apart of the bicameralism system.
Fathers of Confederacy When Canada’s founders were thinking of Canada’s legislature system they valued accountability.[4] Unicameralism is a single legislative house or chamber and their just isn’t the same accountability as the bicameralism legislatures.[5] They did not want one “high-handed Cabinet” because this could pose a threat and to the founders this was “classic forms of autocracy.”[6] This is why bicameralism was introduced to the legislature. They were concentrated on checks on balances in the form of The Cabinet, the Commons, and the Senate, which were like the three branches of government.[7] What is funny is that the word “democracy” was used differently back in those days and they used mixed or balanced.[8] The Founders were viewed as being Liberal democrats because of them picking the bicameralism legislature over the unicamerlism legislature.[9] Also the Father’s visions were never for a “fusion of powers” in the legislature, but that the
Intro The Senate’s purpose is to be a second thought on legislative proposals after the House of Commons.[1] Members of the Senate are supposed to be a check and balance on the House of Commons. The Father of Confederacy designed the Senate for that reason. They are to be always checking on the other chamber and making sure legislation is going as it should be. Bicameral legislatures are common throughout the world and date back to early as the seventeen hundreds. Such countries as the United States of America (1787), German Confederation (1871), Australia (1901), Germany (1949), and India (1950).[2] Having a “…second chamber promotes democracy and protects democracy and protects minority rights by curbing high-handedness and arrogance in Cabinet and Commons.”[3] The Senate is a second chamber that the founder’s of this country envisioned and it serves as a check on the House and is apart of the bicameralism system.
Fathers of Confederacy When Canada’s founders were thinking of Canada’s legislature system they valued accountability.[4] Unicameralism is a single legislative house or chamber and their just isn’t the same accountability as the bicameralism legislatures.[5] They did not want one “high-handed Cabinet” because this could pose a threat and to the founders this was “classic forms of autocracy.”[6] This is why bicameralism was introduced to the legislature. They were concentrated on checks on balances in the form of The Cabinet, the Commons, and the Senate, which were like the three branches of government.[7] What is funny is that the word “democracy” was used differently back in those days and they used mixed or balanced.[8] The Founders were viewed as being Liberal democrats because of them picking the bicameralism legislature over the unicamerlism legislature.[9] Also the Father’s visions were never for a “fusion of powers” in the legislature, but that the
Bibliography: “Bicameral System." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. October 21 2007 . Fitzpatrick, Megan. “Senate delaying crucial legislation, Harper says; Upper chamber 'defying public opinion and all common sense '’”National Post. CanWest News June 23 2007. October 21, 2007< http://global.factiva.com.cyber.usask.ca/ha/default.aspx>. Joyal, Serge. Protecting Canadian Democracy: The Senate You Never Knew, ed. by Serge Joyal. Montreal & Kingston Mc Gill-Queen’s University Press, 2003. Malcolmsom, Patrick and Richard Myers. The Canadian Regime. 3d ed. Broadview Press, (2005): 132- 36. Martin, Don. "Lord knows, Canada 's Senate needs reforming. " CanWest News March 10, 2007 1. CBCA Current Events. ProQuest. October 21, 2007 The Merriam-Webster Dictionary [2] Ronald L. Watts. “Bicameralism in Federal Parliamentary Systems,” in Protecting Canadian Democracy: The Senate You Never Knew, ed. by Serge Joyal. Montreal & Kingston Mc Gill-Queen’s University Press, (2003): 67. [3] Janet Ajzenstat. “Bicameralism and Canada’s Founders: The Origins of the Canadian Senate,” in Protecting Canadian Democracy: The Senate You Never Knew, ed. by Serge Joyal. Montreal & Kingston Mc Gill-Queen’s University Press, (2003): 4. [5] The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.A,( 1997) 794. [13] The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.A, (1997) 85. [14] bicameral system." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. October 21, 2007 . [24] Patrick Malcolmson and Richard Myers. The Canadian Regime. 3d ed. Broadview Press, (2005): 132. [55] C.E.S. Franks. “The Canadian Senate in Modern Times,” in Protecting Canadian Democracy: The Senate You Never Knew, ed. by Serge Joyal. Montreal & Kingston Mc Gill-Queen’s University Press, (2003): 151. [60] C.E.S. Franks. “The Canadian Senate in Modern Times,” in Protecting Canadian Democracy: The Senate You Never Knew, ed. by Serge Joyal. Montreal & Kingston Mc Gill-Queen’s University Press, (2003): 153. [67] Don Martin. "Lord knows, Canada 's Senate needs reforming. " CanWest News 10 March 2007 1. CBCA Current Events. ProQuest. 22 Oct. 2007 [68]Meagan Fitzpatrick