The role of the Senate in Canada

Interesting that one of the earlier demands from the Protest Convoy was that the Governor General and the Senate dissolve parliament. Neither of these are able to do so. The Senate prolonging the debate longer than necessary on the invoking of the Emergency Measures Act only fuels the logic that the Senate could overturn the will of the majority. They cannot. We expect them to debate and have opinions but in the long run the will of the people should prevail and that is the useage of the Emergency Measures Act should be ratified and should be in place. The Protest Convoy is still in existence apparently huddled on farms around the area. 

The right to protest enshrined in the Canadian Bill of Rights (and I did not agree at the time to inaugurate this particular legislation and what has happened has increased my thoughts that my reluctance at the time was justified and continues) has been utilized many many times since 1982. Our society lives on precedents with their various checks and balances and the method of protesting has lots of examples in the past that the Protest Convoy could have utilized but they chose to hold a city captive and that is not a protest it is an occupation that broke many many city bylaws. Not acting immediately gave this very large unwieldly protest an opportunity to improve on their initial mistakes but they did not do so; they continued to break bylaws, insult people, make people fearful and life was generally unliveable in the downtown area of Ottawa. The Conservatives' members who met with the Protest Convoy (and ate with them) gave them a feeling of legitimacy that they did not in fact have and turned the whole event into a political circus. The Protest Convoy had already broken bylaws before they met with some of the Conservatives.

So to the Senate I would say; please do your duty; debate the invoking of the Emergency Measures Act and let us understand ever more completely just what is implied by the Act that is why we have a Senate. But, we, through our representatives, have passed the Emergency Measures Act. You should ratify the invoking of it. You are a place of careful thought and contemplation but thus far nothing that has been published about your thoughts convinces me that the use of the Emergency Measures Act should be other than ratified by the Senate. Your need to know top secret information will I am sure be carefully considered but in reality the fewer that know some of the details the better; the less the Protest Convoy know about what is known supersedes your need to know. We saw the result of this protest; it was shameful that Canadians would do that to other Canadians.