A perfect opportunity for Senate reform

I’m no fan of Stephen Harper but when he pledged to make the Senate an elected body that would be accountable to Canadians he caught my attention.

Of course he’s now proven to everyone that all that election rhetoric meant zero, nada, zip now that he’s made more partisan appointments to the Upper Chamber than any other prime minister in Canadian history.

At this point I’m not surprised by anything Harper says or does. He’s the leader of a Conservative party, that since it’s been elected in 2006 has operated in a manner not even remotely Conservative.


But now Harper has an opportunity to change Canadians’ opinions of his party when it comes to the Senate. And the best part is that he can do it at the expense of a Liberal senator.

Quebec Senator Raymond Lavigne was banned from sitting in the Senate chamber back in 2007. He faces charges of fraud, breach of trust and obstruction of justice over alleged misuse of Senate funds from travel and for having a staffer perform yard work on his property.  Under orders of this suspension he’s also not allowed to sit on any Senate committees.

It was reported on CBC last night that despite being banned from the Senate Lavigne continues to charge taxpayers more than $10,000 a month in expenses.  How is that possible?

The guy is suspended from the Upper Chamber so basically he’s a senator in name only. How then could he in good conscience rack up $10,000 in expenses every month?

Lavigne was a former Liberal MP from Quebec while Jean Chretien was Prime Minister before he became a senator.  So if Harper ever wanted to reform even a small part of the workings of the Senate this provides him a perfect place to start.

Marjorie LeBreton, a Conservative senator, said “The rules committee needs to come up with procedures so this doesn’t happen again. When someone is suspended from a legislative body … it only makes sense to suspend the services too.”

If I were Harper I’d be on the phone to LeBreton with one request – “Make it so.”

Nobody would vote against such a motion, not even Liberal senators. It’s bad enough we’re still paying Lavigne’s $130,000 salary per year but to get slapped with these ridiculous monthly expenses is deplorable.

If the Conservatives don’t seize this opportunity and reform this gigantic loophole I hold out NO hope the party will ever deal with the Senate. It’s too good to pass up but unfortunately will have to wait until senators return from their winter break. What a tough job!