Mr. Speaker, this evening in dealing with the main estimates I have had an opportunity to listen to a number of members discuss the Senate. The Reform Party has spent a lot of time outlining its policy of an elected Senate and each and every speaker from the Bloc Quebecois has used this aspect of the estimate to say that the Senate should be abolished because it has outlived its time.
As all members know, there has been a lot of work done over the years on reforming the Senate. Even as this place has to reform itself from time to time, there are things that can be done to improve it.
The member indicated that the Senate killed the Pearson bill and was it not awful that this unelected, unaccountable body can kill a bill. The bill was stopped but the government can still bring back a further bill if it wishes to pursue it further.
I want to ask the member a question about accountability. Notwithstanding that she has suggested that the Senate should be abolished, she mentioned that it is an unaccountable body. She knows that there are 104 Senators which is about one-third the number of members of Parliament. That means that each senator effectively represents somewhere in the neighbourhood of about 300,000 people. It also means that if they were elected and were accountable the way the member suggested they should be, then they would have to run in ridings three times larger than the member's own riding. In addition, they would have to have some kind of constituency facility and a bureaucracy within the constituency to be able to serve their electors.
Then there is the problem of how we rationalize the responsibilities of an elected senator and an elected member of Parliament. Who do the constituents go to?
It is very easy to reach conclusions to abolish, reform or elect the Senate. But none of the impacts of making bodies such as the Senate accountable have been thought through. What would be the implications to the whole system?
The Canadian Parliament has three parts: this Chamber of the House; the Senate; and Her Majesty the Queen as represented by the Governor General. The Senate is an integral part of Canada. It is very clear that the position of the Bloc-and I hope the member will comment on this-has nothing to do with fiscal responsibility but very much to do with the need to break up Canada.