Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  I would venture to say that the senates of sunny countries get more visitors.

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  I just want to add something about diversity. If my recollection is correct, the Senate, at least in the recent past, has had more diversity than the House of Commons, and this is an effect of party politics, obviously. So if we have a system where senators are elected or appoint

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  Personally, I think the move is significant to the extent that it is likely to change the expectations of the people. It will change the expectations in a way that relies on a notion of democracy that has not been fully worked out, in my view. But this, of course, will be mostly

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  Again, that's deadlock in the sense that a bill will not be adopted as an act of Parliament, which in a sense resolves the deadlock. I think that's an important clarification.

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  If you want an elected Senate, you can use the procedure for amending the constitution. You get the consent of the provinces and you change the Senate to an elected body. There is no legal reason why you cannot do that.

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  Legally, the Governor General makes the appointment, always on the Prime Minister's advice. From a moral perspective, it comes back to the distinction you make between a legal imperative and a political imperative, as Mr. Moore mentioned. It is useful to recall the difference be

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  Of course this is a 100% political question.

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  I will try....

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  Yes, of course. I will actually drag it back to a more comfortable area. I will say that to a large extent, since 1982, a significant part of the role that had been played by the Senate and that was expected of the Senate is now being played by the Supreme Court of Canada. This

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  The Parliament of Canada has the power to change the Senate under section 44 of the Constitution At of 1982. That can be said to be Senate reform because it affects the Senate without changing the Constitution. So I do not think that the terminology changes a great deal.

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  I did look at the constitutionality of Bill C-19. I looked at it when it was S-4. In the current version, a senator's term is non-renewable. Whether it is or is not renewable is very important. This is because, in assessing the essential characteristics of the Senate that were di

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  In terms of the power of the Prime Minister to consult, I don't think there are any legal limitations on that; the Prime Minister can consult whoever he wishes before making decisions. I don't think it goes to the legal validity, in constitutional terms, of decisions that are mad

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  Your question presupposes that it's going to change the system. It's a step toward changing the system, that's for sure, but I don't think we can take for granted that the system will be changed. It could very well be a matter of being a flash in the pan here. The next Prime Mi

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  There is a question of how risk-averse one is, and people have different temperaments. If it's really a question of how much you want to control the risks, outcomes are never 100% certain--never. It's really a question of degree we're looking at; at least, it seems so to me. Thi

Bill C-20 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) committee  I'm not convinced that the Supreme Court would take such a stringent view on the question of inter-delegation, and so I wouldn't be 100% certain that this would hold.