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Re:Did somebody just try to buy the British government? by sanderjd on Wednesday November 03, 2010 @01:13PM (#1865515)
Apologies for lack displaying my lack of knowledge regarding Canadian politics, but what why would it be "spectacularly weird" for the Senate to wield their power, when groups with power nearly always wield it? What holds them back from doing so? As an American, it is very odd to hear that a body exists with power technically equivalent to our (very powerful) Senate, but with lifetime appointments, and yet they do nothing, and are not taken seriously.
Re:Did somebody just try to buy the British government? by a-priori on Wednesday November 03, 2010 @02:20PM (#1865816)
In addition to what jat850 said, there's also the fear of jeopardizing their positions. Right now the senators receive a significant salary ($132,300/a) for not much work. The Senate has notoriously low attendance.

If they do something to piss off the Canadian public, the Prime Minister could use that as an opportunity to push through legislation to change or even abolish the Senate. Harper, our current Prime Minister, talked about Senate reform in his election campaign, and he's not the first to do so, but it's never been urgent enough to actually do anything about.

Re:Did somebody just try to buy the British government? by jat850 on Wednesday November 03, 2010 @01:29PM (#1865599)
First, I erred on one point. Lifetime appointment is almost, but not quite true. Senators must retire at age 75.

A big portion of it is the demographic of the Senate. As senate seats are typically honourary appointments, rather than partisan decisions (though there are exceptions), there is typically little reason or desire to rise up and exert their power. Senators include former career politicians, but also public personas of various origin - athletes, entertainers, and others of non-political origin.

I would speculate that is almost out of a "gentleman's agreement" of sorts that senators respect and recognize their role and place in Canadian politics. Another is attendance - only 15 senators out of 105 are required to make quorum, and many senators are almost never found in their seats.

I shouldn't make it seem as though the Canadian senate is merely an automatic stamp of approval; there have been past examples of dissent, discussion, debate, reform, and rejection of bills arriving in the Senate. However, it is generally understood among the public that the Senate acts primarily in a nearly ceremonial capacity, rather than one of actual weight and importance.