Senate of Canada: Difference between revisions

The Senate came into existence in 1867, when the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] passed the ''British North America Act 1867'' (now entitled the ''[[Constitution Act, 1867]]''), uniting the [[Province of Canada]] (as two separate provinces, [[Quebec]] and [[Ontario]]), [[Nova Scotia]] and [[New Brunswick]] into a single federal [[Dominion]]. The Canadian parliament was based on the [[Westminster system]] (that is, the model of the Parliament of the United Kingdom). Canada's first prime minister, Sir [[John A. Macdonald]], described the Senate as a body of "sober second thought" that would curb the "democratic excesses" of the elected House of Commons and provide regional representation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/process/senate/legisfocus/focus-e.htm |title=The Canadian Senate in Focus |publisher=Parl.gc.ca |access-date=July 1, 2010}}</ref> He believed that if the House of Commons properly represented the population, the upper chamber should represent the regions.<ref>{{Cite news|title = How to legitimize Canada's Senate|url = https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/editorials/how-to-legitimize-canadas-senate/article8979559/|access-date = August 19, 2015}}</ref> It was not meant to be more than a revising body or a brake on the House of Commons. Therefore, it was deliberately made an appointed house, since an elected Senate might prove too popular and too powerful and be able to block the will of the House of Commons.{{fact|date=November 2023}}