This is the best summary I could come up with:
Some time ago, the leader of an opposition party stood during question period and lamented that “unelected senators” had thwarted the “will of the House of Commons” by defeating a private member’s bill.
In response, the prime minister stood and expressed the government’s view that the bill, even though it had passed the House, was so deeply flawed it was “completely irresponsible.”
Almost exactly 13 years after the Senate killed C-311, the upper chamber began third-reading debate on C-234, a Conservative MP’s bill that would create a new exemption from the federal carbon tax for certain farming activities.
Unless or until someone can muster the support necessary to either reform or excise the Senate, it will retain not just the right but (arguably) the responsibility to closely scrutinize legislation passed by the House of Commons.
That convention, established in the United Kingdom, says the upper chamber should not absolutely block legislation that implements a commitment previously made in the governing party’s election platform.
But whether the Senate exercises its indisputable right to pass, defeat or amend C-234, this is unlikely to be the last time the newly independent Red Chamber finds itself facing pressure from a demanding Conservative leader.
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