Once our marathon federal election campaign finally ends, the concentrated power of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) is bound to be an issue – and for good reason.

We can thank another never-ending political spectacle, the Mike Duffy trial, for insight into the damage the PMO has had on Canadian parliamentary democracy. The tawdry affair has given us the insight of a couple of royal commissions on why the PMO can’t continue as the prime minister’s personal command and control centre.

Because of the Duffy trial, Canadians have been able to have a good look at what goes on inside the Langevin Block. We have learned how the PMO became fixated with the penny-ante expense cheating of a senator and then devoted its resources to an elaborate coverup and fictional narrative to deceive the Canadian people at the expense of all other files.

We now have learned the powerful players of the PMO can be just as incompetent as the management of a failing company in which no one dares question the boss or follow their conscience. We have learned how the PMO has stripped the Senate of any pretense of being an oversight legislative body. The government’s leaders in the Senate have been shown to be little better than clerical staff functioning at the behest of their PMO masters.

It’s going to be difficult for either institution to regain the trust of Canadians, let alone the moral authority to govern.

A few experts have been busy writing papers on how to fix the PMO. Unfortunately, governments have an uncanny ability to work around rules and protocols.

If a referendum were held tomorrow, Canadians would probably vote overwhelmingly to abolish the Senate. There was once a large movement to reform the Senate by making it “triple E” – elected, equal and effective. But no more.

What few people are thinking about these days is how the removal of a second legislative chamber would only perpetuate an unhealthy concentration of power. A government with an elected majority in the House of Commons would have no oversight at all. We would have fewer checks and balances than we do now.

Here is an answer: we should look down under to the Australian Senate.

Like Canada, Australia functions as a republic with a monarchy that nobody is quite sure what to do with. But the Australians had the insight to take the best of the Westminster parliamentary system and the best of the U.S. congressional system in setting up Australia’s system of government.

Their House of Representatives may be very similar to our House of Commons. But their Senate, unlike ours, is elected. So, it is possible for a government to have control of the House of Representatives, but not the Senate.

Even if a governing party has a majority in both chambers, minorities still have some voice in Australia’s Senate. This is because, since 1948, Australia has had proportional voting for senators. Voters are required to rank senatorial candidates according to preference. A complicated mathematical formula decides which candidates are successful. The result has meant a smaller party could hold the balance of power between the two major parties. In fact, this has happened frequently since the mid-1950s.

The presence of voices other than those of the two main parties also means Australia’s Senate does a better job of looking after regional interests. Australians frequently vote for one party in the lower house and another in the Senate.

After nine years of Harper rule, many Canadians feel they live in an elected dictatorship.

About two-thirds of Canadians are likely to vote against Harper on Oct 19. Yet, because the anti-Harper vote will be split between two major parties, one-third of the electorate could decide which party will be in charge on Oct. 20.

As we know, ruling parties in Canada have been using the Senate to give their fundraisers a permanent retainer on the public payroll, regardless of qualification. Harper has been a serial abuser of this traditional practice.

A Senate that is elected on a proportional basis could restore confidence in Canada’s Parliament and its democratic institutions.IE

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