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EATON: Senate 'filled with outstanding people doing good work'

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BY SENATOR NICOLE EATON

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My first day as a Senator — Jan. 26, 2009 — was a bit of a blur.

One of 18 new Senators sworn in that day, I was awestruck and a bit apprehensive.

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Nearly 11 years later, as I leave due to mandatory retirement, my apprehension has faded but the awe endures. As does my gratitude for the privilege I was accorded.

I never aspired to political office, like most Canadians I didn’t know much about the Senate, and I wasn’t sure I was suited for it.

But I learned quickly that this overlooked institution is filled with outstanding people doing good work. The committees are where the Senate is at its best, in part because we don’t believe our political opponents are our enemies.

We sit where we wish, we confide in each other regardless of affiliation, and we ask questions to find the answer, rather than to score political points. (Not that I’m against scoring a political point now and then).

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I can only hope that two committee studies I participated in last session don’t gather dust.

The National Finance Committee’s study on Canada’s broken system for defence procurement, under the chairmanship of Sen. Percy Mockler, highlighted the consequences in added costs and increased risk to personnel of taking an average of 16 years to procure new equipment.

The Special Committee on the Arctic’s “Northern Lights” report on the Arctic, under the leadership of chair Dennis Patterson, provides a blueprint for the government to improve Arctic infrastructure, bolster sovereignty and improve the lives of residents.

A polar bear walks in the snow near the Hudson Bay outside Churchill, Mantioba, Canada, on Nov. 13, 2007. (Photo by Paul J. RICHARDS/AFP)
A polar bear walks in the snow near the Hudson Bay outside Churchill, Mantioba, Canada, on Nov. 13, 2007. (Photo by Paul J. RICHARDS/AFP)

The Arctic file is an example where the Senate can make a real difference.

This vast area of Canada is under-represented and ignored, its people residing in substandard housing and living in poverty, without the educational and social opportunities other Canadians take for granted. The disaster in First Nations housing was highlighted vividly in a recent report by the Aboriginal People’s committee, chaired at the time by Sen. Lillian Dyck.

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With more than 10% of the members of the Senate of First Nations or Metis heritage, I hope these former colleagues become beacons of hope and empowerment to the people in these communities.

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Much of the work we do as senators goes unnoticed. But I did get a considerable amount of media attention back in 2011 when I made a statement in the Chamber calling for the beaver — which I called a “dentally defective rat” — to be replaced as a Canadian symbol by the polar bear.

Alas, then prime minister Stephen Harper was unmoved by my appeal and a rodent that wreaks havoc on farmlands, lakes and streams remains exalted, while the noble polar bear is not.

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I was proud to launch a Senate inquiry in 2012 into foreign funding of campaigns by environmental charities to shut down Canada’s energy sector. That inquiry made news, but the foreign money is still flowing.

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The Senate has changed during my 11 years as a member and not all of the changes are for the better.

Prime Minister Trudeau’s so-called independent appointment process and the decline of partisan caucuses have been met with universal approval by the media, but the longterm consequences are unclear.

Personally, I think partisan caucuses make the Senate more effective. Caucuses provide support, education and structure. They encourage hard work and discipline.

As the Senate has moved away from partisan caucuses, there is less predictability. Too many new Senators think they are there as social activists pursuing their pet causes, rather than as part of a team and representatives of their region.

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The government representative in the Senate, without a caucus behind him, is in an untenable position. Last session, Sen. Peter Harder, then the government’s point man, frequently blamed the Conservative opposition for his difficulty moving legislation along.

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But the real blame lies with the hand Harder was dealt by the Prime Minister, who set up a structure — with no consultation or study — that is incompatible with our Westminster system of government.

To solve this self-created problem, Trudeau intends to amend the Parliament of Canada Act in a way, I fear, that will remove the status and the resources of the Official Opposition.

The Senate will have multiple caucuses, but without a caucus dedicated to opposing the government or, for that matter, without one dedicated to pursuing the government’s agenda.

We should not forget that Parliament is, based on centuries of tradition, a vehicle for opposition. It can be frustrating, it can test your patience; but in the end, it works.

— Nicole Eaton is a Conservative member of the Senate of Canada who is set to retire Jan. 21

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