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Harper, Wall to call for abolition of Senate on Friday: report

theglobeandmail.com
July 24, 2015

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall will hold a press conference in Regina on Friday to call for the Senate to be abolished, the National Post is reporting.

The newspaper, citing a source familiar with the plan, said the two leaders are expected to speak at the Saskatchewan Legislative Building on Friday afternoon.

The first bombshells have dropped from a not-yet-public report on Senate spending. During question period Friday, the opposition asked whether Stephen Harper knew the Senate speaker he appointed was implicated in the audit.

The move comes ahead of a federal election, which is set for Oct. 19, and during a summer in which the Senate will figure prominently in the headlines. The fraud trial of Mike Duffy, appointed a senator by Mr. Harper, resumes Aug. 11, when the Prime Minister’s former chief of staff Nigel Wright is expected to take the stand.

For decades, Mr. Harper has championed an elected Senate, but he appeared to drop the fight after the Supreme Court said last year that he would require a constitutional amendment approved by most or all provinces before he could reform or abolish the upper house.

Last month, when Auditor-General Michael Ferguson released a damning audit of senators’ expenses, Mr. Harper responded by saying “the Senate is an independent body and the Senate is responsible for its own expenses.”

But the Senate continues to be mired in controversy and is an embarrassment to the Prime Minister.

Aside from the Duffy trial - the senator has not guilty to 31 charges including fraud, bribery and breach of trust - the auditor-general’s report on expenses led to the upper chamber referring the cases of nine senators to the RCMP.

As well, Senator Mac Harb faces fraud charges and Senator Don Meredith is under investigation by the Senate’s ethics officer after published allegations last month that he had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old.