NDP Proposes Referendum On Abolishing Senate

The move comes days after two Conservative senators were charged by Elections Canada with violating campaign funding rules.

When he was in the opposition, Stephen Harper vowed that if he ever became prime minister he would never appoint anyone to the Senate, an institution he considered undemocratic. Since taking power he’s appointed 36 Conservatives to the upper chamber, and the Tory-dominated Senate has been instrumental in quashing legislation passed by the House of Commons that the Conservatives voted against. Jack Layton has seized on the issue and will table a motion in the House Tuesday that proposes a referendum on abolishing the Senate and could be included in the next federal election. Getting rid of the chamber won’t be so easy however. Doing so would require a constitutional amendment, and likely the consent of the Senate itself.