by David Ros
Right now, the only way to get a seat on Canada’s Senate is by being appointed. The legislative body, was originally created as a “counterbalance to representation by population,” with one of its main purposes to provide a “sober second look,” to bills passed by our elected parliament.
With a federal election looming this fall, one man will seek to shine a light on this undemocratic component of our democracy by running for senate.
Scott Vrooman, a comedian who has written for and appeared on This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Conan, as well many other projects has decided to create his own election for a senate seat challenging Ontario senators Don Meredith, Linda Frum and Colin Kenny.
While Vrooman’s campaign uses satire, touting his “solid track record of tolerating babies,” as opposed to Don Meredith’s “‘Get that baby away from me!’ approach,” while poking fun at Linda Frum for her “telling silence on bug murder,” and claiming to “only be useless for, like, two years tops,” in response to Colin Kenny’s claim that “it takes most people several years on Parliament Hill to become really successful politicians,” there is a more serious message behind the campaign.
“Around 90 per cent of the country wants the Senate reformed or abolished but no meaningful change is forthcoming,” Vrooman said. “If the democratic will isn’t being expressed through our institutions, something is very wrong and it deserves more attention.
“Also, I’m looking for a steady, high-paying gig,” he jokingly added.
One of the original qualifications required to become a senator, according to the Constitution Act of 1867 was that any senator must have personal property of at least $4,000 over and above debts and this qualification is still in the legislation today.
“In 1867, $4,000 of land was a lot, to be appointed, you basically had to be a wealthy landowner,” he said. “The Senate was effectively structured to limit the popular will in case it clashed too much with the interests of the kinds of people who were appointed to the Senate.”
Vrooman added that since then, some reforms have been made, such as allowing women and minorities to sit in the senate, but he argues, “It’s still an appointed body that has the power to limit the popular will.”
He highlighted that the senate also performs other important functions such as commissioning studies.
“But why do they need to be appointed until they’re 75 to do that work?” Vrooman asked. “Food inspectors do important work but we don’t appoint them for life and give them a velvet hairnet.”
Vrooman said the idea to run for senate was suggested to him by Mark McKinney of Kids in the Hall and since then, he “just ran with it,” officially launching his campaign with an Apr. 7 editorial in the Toronto Star.
The senate election will be held on Vrooman’s web site (vroomanforsenate.com) on Oct. 19, the same day as the federal election. Vrooman said the person with the least amount of votes will lose, and if he is elected, he will go to Ottawa to take the seat he is entitled to.
Vrooman, who said that he is running a non-partisan campaign, running against both Liberal and Conservative senators said that he wanted to set the record straight that this is the first senate election.
“Some are claiming Alberta has already held Senate elections, but Alberta has NEVER elected anyone to the Senate,” Vrooman said.
“They held “Senate nominee elections” to recommend potential appointees, which were non-binding on the Prime Minister. I am competing against sitting,appointed senators and the results will be final. That’s democracy. The democracy I am imposing unilaterally.”
For more information on Vrooman’s senate campaign, you can also visit his Facebook page “One Zillion Strong for Scott Vrooman for Senate,” or follow him on twitter @mescottvrooman.