This morning’s CBC newscast showed a viewer’s emailed comment about the Senate expense scandal. The viewer wrote that in the next election the ballot should give voters three choices:
- appoint senators
- elect senators
- abolish the senate
There’s a fourth choice that should go on the ballot: increase the size of the Senate and select senators by lot. The advantage of this over appointment would be
- decisions would better reflect the feelings of Canadians
- there would be no patronage
- there would be less chance of sleezy deals like the Duffy scandal
The advantage over elections would be
- money would be saved because a random draw is cheaper than an election
- there would be no need for sleazy deals in order to get elected
The advantage over abolishing the Senate would be
- there would be less chance of sleazy deals in the House of Commons if there were a Senate to check on it.
Basic Democracy 