Mr. Speaker, the second petition I have to present today pertains to the Senate.
The petitioners are from the constituency of Regina-Lumsden primarily. They believe that the Senate, being unelected and unaccountable, has become a home of recipients of Tory and Liberal patronage, and has been a discarded notion of a working body in the best interests of Canadian taxpayers over the past number of years. Because the Senate costs $54 million to $55 million per year to Canadian taxpayers, and that travel costs for senators alone are nearly $3 million, these petitioners request, pray and beg the House of Commons, the Parliament of Canada and the Government of Canada to abolish the Senate.