Canada’s Senate risks becoming permanent shelter for unaccountable power

The modern Senate is increasingly presented as 'independent,' expert-driven, and above politics. But democracy is not supposed to be above politics. Politics is how citizens assign responsibility. When governments fail, Canadians can vote them out. When parties overreach, the public can punish them. Visibility matters.

A look inside the Senate Chamber. Canadians were never asked directly whether they wanted a fundamentally different Upper Chamber. Provinces were never brought into a national constitutional conversation. No referendum occurred. No broad democratic mandate was sought, writes Kelly Patrick. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Opinion

BY KELLY PATRICK

May 25, 2026

OTTAWA—I am pleased that, in some circles, a debate on the direction of this country's Senate is being had, but, at the same time, I’m alarmed at some Independent Senators' complete disregard for tradition and precedent of the institution over which they now wield power....

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