The Canadian Senate is a common issue in Canadian politics. Many worry about the fact that the Senate isn't elected and that it's appointed. Many people also advocate an elected senate without viewing the whole story.

While electing a Senate might introduce democracy into the Upper House, it will also expose it to the same partisan conflict that you find in the Lower House. The Senate can make a decision faster than the House of Commons, and it's partially because many (not all) of the senators usually don't follow party lines, they follow their intuition.

Having getting involved in organizations where we debate in the Canadian Senate, I have learned through the Senators themselves that they know what will do Canada good, not what their party thinks is good.

The problem also posed with an elected upper house is the fact that there might be two different parties in the upper and lower house, which would truly halt the political process in Canada. It would take forever to get a bill passed, much like the process with the American senate.

Senate committees are able to produce reports and studies with almost total agreement among its members that might become legislation.

To close, the members of the senate are not figureheads, they are representatives, but not of their party, but of the people of Canada. Take the uniqueness of the senate away, and a special part of the government with go along with it.

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