I'm against an elected senate. I see no purpose - we already have an elected assembly.
I like the idea of the senate as a group that provides a mechanism to prevent any ruling party from railroading questionable legislation through the house, sort of a "concience" or "sober second thought".
I would like a way to discourage party affiliation in the senate. Term limits are a good idea (8 or 10 years). Mandatory attendance. And I could support a mechanism to appoint a portion of the members who are nominated by the respective region/province, whatever that nomination process may be (i.e. Alberta senator election if that is was AB wants).
But I would like to see the upper house able to evaluate legislation on its merits without using it as an issue to play politics.
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"The problem with any ideology is that it gives the answer before you look at the evidence."
—Bill Clinton
"The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance--it is the illusion of knowledge."
—Daniel J. Boorstin, historian, former Librarian of Congress
"But the Senator, while insisting he was not intoxicated, could not explain his nudity"
—WKRP in Cincinatti
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