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And so while on paper the Senate may defeat any bill, in practice its appointed status was expected to ensure, in the words of Sir John A. Macdonald, that it would “never set itself in opposition against the deliberate and understood wishes of the people.”

Well, here it is 2016, and a very different set of reforms has been enacted, under which the prime minister is obliged to consult, not the people, but a particular group of people, an Independent Advisory Board, his appointees sitting not as members of any caucus, as before, but as independents. Indeed, there is no government caucus, as such, or a government leader to order them about. Yet even without the democratic mandate the court was so concerned to protect us from, the result is proving to be exactly the kind of deadlock it had feared.

Senators are vowing to rewrite Bill C-14, federal legislation legalizing assisted suicide and euthanasia, from top to bottom, and refusing to pass the bill until their amendments are accepted by the Commons. An excited Sen. George Baker predicts “this could go on forever.” The bill may have passed the House of Commons by a vote of 186 to 137, but what are the wishes of MPs or the public which elected them compared to those of people who once contributed to the Liberal party or kept quiet about a Conservative scandal?

Already there is talk the Senate might go on to amend or defeat legislation enacting electoral reform, when it lands. And beyond that, who knows? Freed of the caucus whips, senators are now accountable neither to the public nor to any elected officials, but only to themselves.