Check It Out: Who are the important people?
By Joan Janzen
An episode from the BBC archives included an interview of 9-year-olds in 1967. When the kids were asked who they considered an important person, one little girl said she thought the Prime Minister was important. “He’s got an easy job, cause he has plans to do things, but he doesn’t get around to doing them,” she said.
Although she had never met him, she did see his autograph. “He has terrible handwriting. If I had terrible writing like that, my teacher would say I was a naughty girl,” she observed.
Scott Hennig, President of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) noted that some people consider themselves to be very important people. During a CTF online episode, Scott said, “Senators are people who think so very highly of themselves that any suggestion that they aren’t making the best decisions is not acceptable.”
“No one pays attention to the Senate, but it’s boiling under the surface,” he observed. “We shouldn’t have unelected people making laws. In an ideal world, we wouldn’t have this situation.”
According to an article by Richard Foot, “The Senate has operated for much of its history as a partisan political body - its members following instructions from their party leaders, rather than as originally intended, as an independent voice for regional interests. This has fuelled demands that the Senate be reformed or abolished.” Nevertheless, no bill can become law without the Senate’s consent, and it can veto any bill as often as it likes.
There are 105 Senators, and Justin Trudeau has appointed 90 of them. “Trudeau is appointing people who say nice things about his government, and making them all seem like they’re independent, but they’re not,” Scott said. To put this number in perspective, John A. MacDonald appointed 92 Senators, and he had to because he was the first Prime Minister of Canada. Trudeau is making history.
“He’s been in for nine years and will potentially have appointed 100 senators,” Scott reiterated. “If a Conservative government is elected in October, 2025, they will be left with ten Conservative senators out of 105. How are they going to get legislation approved by these eminent people appointed by Justin Trudeau?” That is a very good question.
New Zealand got rid of its Senate, and Australia has an elected Senate. Here in Canada, we have unelected elite land owners making laws. But it’s a controversial institution, as many Canadians think it should be reformed into an elected body accountable to the voters or abolished.
Scott explained that in the old days, being a senator was a reward for raising money for a party and serving a party for a long time. They had no particular qualifications. That was a superior system compared to what we have today.” Today, appointed members are able to hold their seats until age 75.
According to the Constitution, their most crucial purpose is to give the regions of Canada an equal voice in Parliament by representation by population. This equates to ten seats each for New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, four for PEI, 24 each for Quebec and Ontario, six for Newfoundland and Labrador, one each for Yukon and Nunavut, and six each for BC, Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan.
“I have very little faith we’ll have a Senate that wants to play ball with a Conservative government,” Scott said. “I think the Senate is going to be a huge fight over the next two or three years.”
Scott’s colleague Franco Terrazzano from CTF agreed, saying, “We’ve already had a taste of it.” He gave the example of Bill C-234, a bill that would remove the carbon tax on natural gas and propane used by farmers. The Bill was passed by our elected representatives in the House of Commons but delayed by the Senate. Now, it’s still in limbo.
Even the decor of the House of Commons is significant. The royal red Senate Chamber represents the elite, while the the bright green in the House of Commons represents the common people.
CTF also represents the common people with 36,000 Canadians donating to their organization. Kris Sims from CTF recalled a memory from a few years ago when she gave testimony at the finance committee leading up to the budget. A parade of groups, lobbyists and activists were asking for more money, she recalled. “CTF was the first group to say “stop spending.”
Scott chimed in, saying lobbyists are effective if you want small, necessary regulation changes. But if you want large changes, you can’t rely on them because they work for their masters.
“Our job is to be the sober one in the room,” he said, referring to CTF. “We work for our masters, the 36,000 Canadians who donate to CTF. We can’t take our foot off the gas or we’re going to lose.”
It’s a sad commentary when CTF had to build an entirely new debt clock because their old clock didn’t have enough digits. Scott referred to debt as an immoral tax on future kids. “Future kids have to pay for the money that was spent on us. We have to address it,” he said.
When we hear groups asking for more money, it’s important to remember that debt is an immoral tax on future kids—because future kids are the important people.