POL111H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Patronage, Responsible Government, Andrew Scheer
Document Summary
The senate and parliamentary democracy = epic fail. The senate has not played the role in canadian government envisaged for it by the fathers of confederation. It has a low profile and does not represent the provinces or regions in any meaningful way. It does not actively check the will of the house of commons. We have moved well beyond the liberal but limited democratic society of the. Senators are not elected, so they lack legitimacy in the eyes of. The senators are not accountable to anybody because they are: appointed not elected; & once appointed, cannot be held accountable since they cannot be removed. Senators sit in the senate until they are 75. Under responsible government, appointments to the senate are by the pm. Historically, up until the 2010s, pms used senate appointments as a way of rewarding part loyalists, including: Provincial premiers belonging to the same party as the pm;
