First Woman Senator in Canada or would that be the  First Woman Speaker of the House?

These adjustments do take time. Ah but what is 10 years, more or less? What can possibly go wrong in ten years? … or 50 years … What difference does 50 years make?  Well for one thing the Old Grey Mare is seldom very grey anymore.  … then again … Does anyone really care about their colour? “If reformed wisely … ” And if not ? Imagine … All that money … 10 Senate salaries … all those perks … How much? … Must be considerable … All that money saved that would then be freed up to go into the new GAI-Canada FUND … Oh didn’t someone ask where the money was to go if the Senate melted away? Ten in New Brunswick alone. Imagine how many GAI incomes that would cover! Get the Senators working in it? Form a standing Senate Committee to determine how many potential GAI dollars would be freed up if the Senate were to be abolished? While they are at it the Senators could also decide on the dollar amount of the individual GAI salary that would be disbursed, which incidently would be the amount that the Senator would be entitled to once there were no more Senate jobs. Of course the Senators might just decide to keep the Senate going as a volunteer organization. That is, after all what some people are suggesting, that anyone receiving a GAI cheque turn their spare time over to community service.

Are any senators speaking out for Canadian people?

Senator Segal

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New Brunswick Senators

Senator Day

Senator Kinsella

Senator Lovelace

Senator McIntyre

Senator Mockler

Senator Poirier

Senator Ringuette

Senator Robichaud

Senator Stewart Olson

Senator Wallace

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Almost fifty years have passed since 1968 when the The Senate of Canada put together the Special Senate Committee on Poverty.

 

Senators who served on the Special Senate Committee on Poverty

The Honourable David A. Croll, Chairman, Ontario

The Honourable Edgar E. Fournier, Vice-Chairman, New Brunswick

The Honourable Rheal Belisle, Ontario

The Honourable Chesley W. Carter, Newfoundland

The Honourable Harold Connolly, Nova Scotia

The Honourable Eric Cook, Newfoundland

The Honourable Raymond Eudes, Quebec

The Honourable Douglas D. Everett, Manitoba

The Honourable Muriel McQueen Fergusson Muriel McQ. Fergusson, New Brunswick

The Honourable Earl Hastings, Alberta ”

The Honourable Elsie F. Inman, Prince Edward Island

The Honourable J. Eugene Lefrancois, Quebec

The Honourable Fred A. McGrand, New Brunswick

The Honourable Josie D. Quart, Quebec

The Honourable Arthur W. Roebuck, Ontario

The Honourable Herbert O. Sparrow, Saskatchewan

The following Senators also served on the Committee:

The Honourable John J. MacDonald, Prince Edward Island

The Honourable Clement A. O’Leary, Nova Scotia (deceased)

The Honourable Arthur M. Pearson, Saskatchewan

The Honourable John Nichol, British Columbia

The Senate reported to the 28th session of Parliament in 1970.

The 241 page Report of the Special Senate Committee on Poverty included the following statement:

“A new bill of rights for the poor must be preceded by a fundamental change in the prevailing public attitude towards those who live below the poverty level.

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It is the Committee’s recommendation that the Parliament of Canada enact legislation to provide a guaranteed minimum income for all Canadians with insufficient income. This includes the elderly, the infirm, and the handicapped, female heads of families, the unemployed, those whose incomes are too low because they work in seasonal occupations, and those who are victims of jobs where the pay is insufficient to provide for their basic needs.”

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“Sixty per cent of the poor are not on welfare. For them, there is not even the semblance of social justice. Consequently, there will be no good reason for their continued consent to a political, social, and economic system to which they give and from which they receive little.”

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The existence of poverty not only deprives the poor; it impoverishes the whole economy. The inadequate participation of the poor in the economy, it has been estimated, deprives it of somewhere between one and two and one-half billion dollars a year. This represents an output that these people could have contributed to the economy if their productive capacity had been better developed and more effectively used. Additionally, there are other costs that arise directly from the social problems caused by poverty. Large expenditures for health care, welfare services, and justice will be reduced as poverty diminishes.

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The Committee believes that the Canadian people whose lives are spent in a far different world are ready to face the challenge of poverty. It is a national problem, and only the national government can find a realistic and meaningful solution. It is for the citizens of Canada to demand that this be our priority project for the 1970s; a project that will stir the world’s imagination and command its respect. We need search no further for a national purpose.

…”

Who else was in the Canadian Senate during the 28th Session of Parliament? 28th Session of Parliament