An in-depth breakdown of the recent wave of Canadian Senate scandals, highlighting the need for abolition.

The Senate of Canada was created as a temporary expedient at the time of Confederation, offered as part of the negotiations to bring Canadas original colonial provinces into the new political union in the mid-1860s. Since then, the original provinces with upper houses abolished them. New provinces were created without second chambers to their legislatures. Only the Parliament of Canada remains stuck with its redundant and irrelevant colonial relic, costly to maintain and out of step with the values of a modern democratic country. Today, the Senate of Canada is rocked by ongoing scandal. News of this far-reaching scandal rightly disturbs Canadians, but the real national scandal is the very existence of the Senate itself.

J. Patrick Boyer is a constitutional lawyer, political science professor, veteran of the House of Commons, broadcast and print journalist, and author of some twenty books on Canadian history, law, politics, and governance. Able to draw on a lifetime of research and engagement with democratic institutions in Canada and around the world, Boyer is frequently sought out by various news media for comment on Canadian public affairs. Patrick and his wife, Elise, live in Muskoka and Toronto.