Thirty years ago, the telecommunications tools which
we have today did not exist. My husband, former
Senator Andrew Thompson, attended the Senate
regularly then. He also attended in the seventies and
eighties. In the nineties, computers, faxes and
answering machines were widely used on all fields of
human endeavor. University students - Canada's next
generation - use computers everywhere.
With an assistant and an office that included the
modern telecommunications, my husband found himself
busy and working even more than he had in previous
years. He could easily be reached anywhere in the
world - and he could reach anybody.
He was a hard - working senator, and Canadians got their money's worth out of him. His colleagues had no knowledge of his workload - and that shows the lassitude in the Senate. He felt that to only sit in a senate seat (to be "attending") was a tragic waste of time. Some senators never say a word, they simply "attend". On occcasion speeches are made. The sad thing is that even the well - rehearsed "good" speeches rarely find their way into the press and are therefore not known to the public.
The reformers want an elected senate. They neglect to
take into account what such elections would cost the
taxpayer. They also want an "equal" Senate. That
would make my Ontario vote worth less than one tenth
of the vote than that of somebody who lives in P.E.
I.. Finally, the reformers want an "effective"
Senate. I have yet to discover what makes some people
effective. There has to be strong motivation. Also, a
senator's role should be clearly defined. Seriously,
would it not be better to give each senator a fax, a
computer, and a telephone? A "forum" could be
arranged where senators could meet and/or vote on the
Internet. It is entirely possible to run an effective
office in this fashion.
Is it necessary to fill costly Hansards with often
irrelevant speeches and comments?
Do we need to give senators elegant, often palatial,
offices? They all have homes where they can work
without spending money on trips to Ottawa. True, the
staff is helpful. Assitants often do the senator's
work. In the hallowed all of the Senate, guards
protect the senators. This system creates work for
many people who are proud to work on Parliament
Hill.
But we are also catering to the enormous collective ego of the senators themselves - and we pay the bill.
Are senators' speeches necessary? If the public
believes that they are, the speeches could also be
made on computers. It may be a radical idea but as
Victor Hugo once wrote:"One can resist an intrusion
of armies but not an idea whose time has come".
An idea such as this could not have been implemented
in the past. But its time has come. It is necessary
for Canadians to consider what they are buying when
they tolerate the Senate in its present form. What do
senators do to make our lives better? With the
entrenched Charter of Rights, do we even need a
Senate today?
Finally, why should Canada not be the the first
country in the world to bring in changes? Or adopt a
new idea - an idea that has been waiting on our
doorstep for some time now?
I will be happy to answer any questions from readers to the best of my ability. But if you merely want to let off steam, please write your Member of Parliament.