Windsor West candidates discuss Senate reform

Federal election candidates in Windsor and Essex debated on Sept. 30. This is the second of three debate recaps CBC Windsor is posting along with Windsor-Tecumseh and Essex. In each segment, previously undiscussed issues came up. Below, one question from the Windsor West debate is presented along with the lightly-edited and condensed responses from each candidate, presented in the order in which the candidates responded.

Issue

The Senate

Question

What's the best way to reform the Senate?

Response

Brian Masse, New Democratic candidate

"[Stephen] Harper has appointed more people to the Senate than any other prime minister in history. The Liberals think they can make better choices. It's very naive in this sense. We live in a modern democracy where people have the right to vote, they should be able to vote and they have representation from those voters. [Mike] Duffy, [Pamela] Wallin, [Patrick] Brazeau, the list goes on and on and on. The Senate is an abomination of democracy and it needs to be fixed.

Dave Sundin, Liberal candidate:

"The Senate needs change, the status quo is not an option. [Justin] Trudeau has done more in one day to improve the Senate than Mr. Harper has done in the last 10 years. Mr. Trudeau released the Liberal senators, automatically making the Senate less partisan, which is what it was always meant to be. A Liberal government will continue Senate reform and respect the constitution. Both Mr. Harper and [Tom] Mulcair have cynically proposed solutions they know are impossible since they require a constitutional amendment."

Henry Lau, Conservative candidate:

"Because a few people made mistakes, I don't think it's fair to the system that we've had for many years. I believe it's the improvement of the system. To improve accountability, that is the way to go."