Hicup
DP Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2009
- Messages
- 9,081
- Reaction score
- 2,709
- Location
- Rochester, NY
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Very Conservative
Actually, even though it is unelected, the Senate in Canada does have a lot of power. Its approval is required to pass legislation adopted by the House of Commons and it can veto or delay dealing with all legislation with the exception of constitutional amendments. In addition, it cannot initiate tax or appropriations bills.
In practice, because the Senate is not elected, it seldom gets in the way of legislation passed by the Government in the House of Commons, particularly if there is a majority government in the House. There are occasions where the Senate has stopped legislation. Recently, in the past month or so, it amended a popular piece of legislation related to union disclosures and the amendments are very unpopular, except with unions.
There is always a lot of talk in Canada about abolishing the Senate or making it fully elected and accountable to the public, but that would require a major constitutional amendment and there isn't support for it across the country.
As an aside, you'll note that in providing this information, unlike Redress, I didn't call you stupid or claim you had no right to utter an opinion on Canadian politics or government. I respect that you have an opinion and you have an interest in my country and its government and I don't insult or dismiss you when you're not totally accurate.
That's essentially what I was getting at, thanks! Important but impotent.
edit, adding that I am actually a Canadian citizen. I've been in the USA for 15 years now and had all of my kids here but I AM CANADIAN! Brother
Tim-