That all funding should cease to be provided to the Senate beginning on July 1, 2013.
Elizabeth May: Mr. Speaker, I would like to address my question to Bill C-7 and what is being described in this chamber as though it is Senate reform. I think it is actually a series of half measures that make a dog’s breakfast and we cannot call that Senate reform. It would mandate provinces with no help for their expenses to hold elections for senators.
The rules, for instance, for campaign financing would vary from province to province. Senator by senator would have different rules on which their election was run. Municipal elections were also considered, but in municipal elections people can vote if they have a property inside the city limit, but they might have a residence somewhere else, so it forces the province to try to eliminate people who might vote twice for a senator of choice. At the end of all this mess, there would be a list from which the Prime Minister may or may not, at his discretion, pick someone or not. It is not reform, it is just public relations.
Corneliu Chisu: Mr. Speaker, I want to reiterate that our government has a plan. The NDP only criticizes. It does not have a plan. Its plan is to de-fund the Senate, throw staff and so on out of work. New Democrats do not care. We have a plan.