Senate reform: who should lead the charge?

Something's rotten in the state of the Senate, and Senators Bob Runciman and Jim Munson have no problem addressing it.

"I think the time truly, truly has come," Ontario Senate Liberal Jim Munson said of the necessity of Senate reform in the wake of Auditor General Michael Ferguson's incendiary report on Senate expense abuses.

But the two senators — neither of whom are named in the report — aren't content in just stating the obvious.

They may not be lining up to join New Democrat Leader Tom Mulcair in his call to abolish the Upper Chamber, but they do want to see some radical changes.

The point they disagree on is who should be at the forefront of the push for reform.

For Conservative Senator Bob Runciman, the least complicated pathway to reform is through the provinces. He admits getting all the provinces on board could be a problem, especially after his recent letter to Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne urging her to lead the reform movement yielded what he said was a disappointing reply from Deputy Premier Deb Matthews.

"Ontario is ready to participate if the federal government decides to lead collaborative pan-Canadian discussions about Senate reform," Matthews' letter said.

"I thought it was a rather bizarre response, to say the least," Runciman told The House.

"What we have to do is get the provinces engaged in this exercise, but up to this stage, too many of them have been willing to sit on the sidelines," he added.

"We've had nation-builder premiers from across the country who have been prepared to do this and we don't seem to have those same kinds of folks in office today."

Munson calls for reform from within the Red Chamber

Munson said change needs to come from within the Senate, rather than relying on the provinces.

"I think we have to look in the mirror ourselves," he said. 

"I think (the provinces) have to be partners in the process, but we have to take the lead. I think that we, on the inside, have to do this ourselves.We have to leave our partisan ideas at the door of the Senate, sit down, talk about term limits, talk about other issues and move motions and get that debate going."

One specific reform Munson would like to bring about is term limits for senators, who are currently allowed to hold office from the time of their appointment until they reach 75 years of age, unless they resign or are disqualified from serving. 

He'd like to see senators limited to two terms for a maximum of 10 years.

"That would be a start," he said. "I think that would be the beginning of a transformative change."