Canada's Governor General David Johnston delivers the Speech from the Throne in the Senate chamber on Parliament Hill in Ottawa June 3, 2011. (REUTERS/Chris Wattie)
OTTAWA - Ask a hundred Canadians what should be done about the Senate of Canada and I bet a hundred say we should blow the place up.
I feel that pain.
But the sad news is, the impossibility of convening a constitutional conference that would agree to abolition means we're stuck with the friggin' thing.
So what can we do to make the pain hurt less?
This particularly painful week in Senate history culminated Friday morning in a Gatineau, Que., courtroom where Sen. Patrick Brazeau was charged with assault and sexual assault, a spectacle that was said to have "appalled and saddened" Prime Minister Stephen Harper when he learned of Brazeau's arrest Thursday morning.
Harper kicked Brazeau out of the Conservative caucus but Brazeau will continue to collect his base salary of $132,000 a year while his case winds through the court. Only a criminal conviction would put Brazeau's senate seat in jeopardy. Otherwise, the 38-year-old can stay there until he's 75.
