The Canadian Senate Literature & Language Essay Paper (Essay Sample)

The Canadian Senate
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Referencing Style: APA 6th/ Word Count: 604 Words
The Canadian Senate
The Canadian Senate is the upper house of the country's parliamentary system modeled after the House of Lords of Britain. The Senate is composed of 105 senators, appointed by the Governor-General in consultation with the Canadian Prime Minister. Instituted in 1867, The Senate has been an integral part of the national political system for over one and a half Centuries. The Senate's primary role is to consider and revise legislation, give regional representation to all provinces of Canada in Parliament and investigate and discuss national issues. The Senate was created under the Constitution Act of 1867 to balance out the power of the commons by protecting the rights of Canada’s regions, especially those with relatively small populations.
The Canadian founding fathers desired to form an additional check on both the executive and the Parliament. As envisioned by the founding father, the Canadian senators are technically appointed to represent regions and provide independent voices for regional interests. According to McHugh (2017), in addition to representing regional interests, the Senate was also instituted to provide a more independent and sober second opinion on the legislation introduced in the house of commons. It is, therefore, tasked with the responsibility of independently, quietly, and critically reviewing national issues through its Committees (Smith, 2006). The Senate Committees, often composed of nonpartisan, knowledgeable and experienced individuals, must review all proposed bills, clause by clause, before making recommendations that often lead to critical changes in legislation and government policy.