Mr. Speaker, I have several questions to ask my colleague which may take a few minutes.
When we are talking about the Senate, I often sit back and wonder what life might be like in Canada had the Senate been elected, equal and effective. Let us take, for instance, some of the laws and changes that went through the House of Commons and were rubber stamped by a group of partisan individuals in the other place who basically take the legislation from the House and rubber stamp it.
I can think of some things that happened recently in the House of Commons. For instance, the age of consent for young people to have sex was 16 years old at one time. The government in its wisdom changed that to age 14.
Had there been a non-rubber stamp Senate, I do not think that would have happened. The place called the place of sober second thought would probably have gone around the country and tested the grassroots feelings in this regard. It probably would have come back and said that the average Canadian did not want the age of consensual sex to go from age 16 to 14. Had the Senate been effective and had the authority to turn that back, this would be a different country today.
Let us look at some other things that happened. Three years ago the government changed the fact that the Lord's Prayer was read in the House of Commons. Would that have occurred if the Senate had been effective and elected, with no particular ties to the government? After talking to some senators, I think the answer is no.
The fact is that the government said it shall occur. It was in majority and its good old boys in the other place would rubber stamp it because they are in majority as well. That is the problem with an unelected Senate which is not effective.
People across the country are wondering why it is, with all the good people in opposition, that laws get passed anyway, even though they are unpopular and even though there is a Liberal government elected with 38% of the vote. The fact is that legislation does not have to be checked through grassroots individuals. It just has to come in from cabinet and passed by telling people to put up their hands. Then it goes over to the Senate and the good old boys are told to stamp it because that is what they are there for. That is totally improper.
Does my colleague believe that Canada would be a different place if the Prime Minister were not appointing his friends to the Senate?