Mr. Speaker, from the very origins of the debate about why the Senate exists, it is, as he points out, for that sober second thought. In order to provide that, and this is going to sound really bad, one has to be sober. Now, by “sober”, I mean “learned”.
One has to be sober and learned. What else is needed? One has to have $4,000 in property. I know that.
Fundamentally, he is right in the sense that the Senate does have that function of sober second thought, as prescribed by the Constitution. The fundamental principles were that it has to provide sober second thought and it also has to reflect the regions senators come from. There is a regional balance that the Senate has attained. All this is done through the monies they are given in doing that.
Let me just end with this. The other day, a Vancouver NDP member praised Michael Kirby for his work. Members will never guess where his work was carried out. It was the Senate. He did a report on health care in this country that was adored by all Canadians, including health practitioners and health boards. He did it in the Senate. They even praised it.