Frum: The Canadian Senate is not Ceremonial
Senator Linda Frum was recently interviewed by Steve Paikin of TVO for her thoughts on the Senate of Canada:
Steve Paikin: Well, the obvious first question is, you had an idea about what politics might be like when you were in journalism. How accurate has that impression turned out to be?
Sen. Linda Frum: Whatever preconceived ideas I had were wrong. My sense was, this was largely a ceremonial job. And part time. And with a surface kind of role. The reality is, without complaining, it’s so much better than I imagined. It’s extremely demanding physically --- 10 to 12 hour days, three days a week, three weeks a month. And yes, they care if you show up. One day, I snuck out to go to the hairdresser’s and the whip called my office asking, “Where is she?” There’s always a chance of a snap vote and the government just can’t be caught short-handed.
SP: What were your views about The Senate before you got the job, and have they changed now that you’re there?
LF: I took this position eagerly, so these comments don’t indicate a lack of respect for the institution. But I would have been receptive to the idea that an unelected upper chamber is inappropriate in a modern democracy. I felt, and feel, that it needs to be reformed. There need to be term limits. That’s the easiest change to accomplish and the most constitutionally feasible. Maybe eight to 12 years.
But now I understand the role of The Senate better. And I realize if you didn’t have a second chamber, some extreme and ill-considered legislation would pass, for example, the proposed legislation requiring future Supreme Court justices to be bilingual.
Having said all that, if you were starting Canada today, you wouldn’t design The Senate this way. The question is, how do you retrofit Canada? How do you renovate the system?
It could be elected. But I probably wouldn’t run. Right now, it’s a perfect place for people who don’t have the appetite for the violence of electoral politics, and they still have a place where they can make a contribution. I’m not making a case for myself, but you see it elsewhere, in the United States, for example, where cabinet members are unelected but make a contribution to the health of their nation.
But I’ve also learned never to say never. It could be after learning the job, if I was told I had to run to keep my job, I might.
SP: Take us back to last summer. How did you get the call from the prime minister to join The Senate?
LF: I was in Muskoka (at the cottage). I looked at my BlackBerry and saw a note from the prime minister’s executive assistant. “Are you available for a call?” it asked. “Sure. Any time,” I said. So I said to my older daughter, “I’m going for a shower. If the phone rings, answer it.” Sure enough, five minutes later, the phone rings and my daughter says, “It’s the prime minister.” So I had to talk to the prime minister dripping wet in a towel.
It was a totally shocking phone call. It was nowhere close to being on my mind. I didn’t say yes right away. I said I had to talk to my family. And they said, “Of course you’ll do it.” And I asked, “What will this mean to our family?” And my husband said, “Whatever it takes to make this work, we’ll do.” I couldn’t do it without his approval and help. It’s a lot to ask in a marriage. But that’s why I love him so much.
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