History was made on Parliament Hill on Nov. 5, when Canada's Upper Chamber, the Senate, took a vote and suspended three of their own: Saskatchewan's Pamela Wallin, Mike Duffy and Patrick Brazeau.
The suspensions are for as long as two years (for the length of the sitting of Parliament) without pay, so everything except benefits and their title as senator was removed, and they are no longer allowed to sit as senators.
For many Canadians, it was about time these three were dealt with, while others feel it took too long; at a minimum, this will stir debate in Canada once again about the Senate and its role in our Parliamentary system, and it may possibly lead to reform or maybe even its abolishment altogether.
Investigations into the three senators' actions continue, so if there are sanctions or punishments yet to come for any of these three, that will lead to their permanent removal from the Senate. If there is any question about what took place, it might be that the suspension took place before there was a determination made about whether there were criminal actions committed in claiming funds they weren't entitled to.
The very fact that this occurred with three members of the Senate shows there has to be a reform of how it operates, at the very least. The absolute minimum that should be done is to make the Upper Chamber more accountable by electing its members.
The other option has been raised by Saskatchewan's own Premier Brad Wall, as the first provincial government to come forward and demand the abolishment of the Senate. Some pundits have suggested this is a stretch and likely will never happen, because unanimity of all 10 provinces will be required for such a major change to our Parliamentary system - and how likely is that to occur, for all provinces to push for this rather than reforming the Senate into an elected house?
In any event, it is quite clear something has to be done, and this was the first major step, removing the politicians who thought they could claim money for expenses that they weren't really entitled to. Investigations may reveal there are other senators also guilty of this; if so, they had better be dealt with in the same manner as these three.
Meantime, the Government of Canada has a major order to fill, namely to enact changes to ensure this can never happen again.
