rfmcdonald | [LINK] "Abolish the Senate if it can't be reformed, Marjory LeBreton says" (Reply)

While the headline of the CBC article/u> about Conservative Senate leader Margory LeBreton's statements about the future of her house of the Canadian Parliament is overblown, it does touch upon the question of the Senate's viability. If the Senate loses popularity, how long can it last?

The government's leader in the Senate says the Senate should be abolished if it can't be reformed, comments that come as Prime Minister Stephen Harper returns this week to Ottawa, where he is expected to face questions about the expenses scandal.

Marjory LeBreton made the rounds of the Sunday talk shows to highlight a package of proposed changes to Senate rules on expense claims. However, in an interview with CBC News, she conceded, "The public do not see the Senate as a legitimate institution.

"We have got to fix this, once and for all," said LeBreton. "Otherwise ... the Senate as an institution cannot survive."

LeBreton, who has served the Conservatives in various roles for more than three decades, emphasized that abolition of the Senate was one of the possibilities that the government has asked the Supreme Court of Canada to rule on.

"One of the options that the Supreme Court should have to consider is whether the Senate should be abolished."

[. . .]

LeBreton said on the weekend that Canadians have every reason to be angry about the latest expense scandal in the Red Chamber.

"Because it's not seen as a legitimate institution, the public ... obviously react in a very negative way — as you would expect them to do."