Do we Need It: The $141 Million Senate Attendance Bill
FACT CHECK: Is Canada’s Unelected Senate a Waste of Taxpayer Money? Following the major structural overhauls to the Parliament of Canada, the Senate, frequently referred to as the "Red Chamber" has come under intense public scrutiny. Online critics and political commentators frequently claim that the chamber is an expensive, unaccountable talking shop where appointed politicians collect massive salaries and gold-plated pensions without actually showing up to do their jobs. Are these claims valid, or is the Senate a vital democratic safeguard performing necessary legislative oversight? Senate Speaker Raymonde Gagne and her entourage spent nearly $900,000 travelling to New Zealand, Spain, Japan and all kinds of other places. Remember: Senators are unelected. They don’t represent you. And they have no democratic mandate for things like negotiating with other countries. So it’s hard to imagine how Gagne can justify spending nearly a million dollars on travel expenses. We looked ...
