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Only 16% of poll respondents said their views of the Senate will inform their vote in the coming election, expected in the fall. This could change, however, if the revelations of the Duffy trial are as sensational as they have been built up to be, or if more scandal emerges from the auditor general’s report, expected in June.

“It does’t take just complaints about cold cheese to see that Canadians want change,” Ms. Kurl said. “The question to watch going forward will be at what effort and cost. We’ve tried big constitutional changes in the past, and that becomes this very fraught, complex process.”

There is an interesting historical trend to the numbers, which suggests support for abolition might have peaked in November 2013, after months of revelations about the role played by the Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s then chief of staff, Nigel Wright, in the Duffy saga. Then, a solid 50% voted for abolition, and a mere 7% said it should stay as it is. At the time, reform attracted about the same level of support as it does now.

A few months later, the Supreme Court of Canada clarified the strict limits and conditions on any Senate reform, ruling that the consent of seven provinces and half the country’s population is required to set term limits or allow senators to be elected, and unanimous provincial consent for abolition.

“We’re essentially stuck with the status quo for the time being,” said Mr. Harper in response.

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The Angus Reid poll found no federal leader inspires great confidence on the matter, with a solid third of respondents answering “none of the above” to a question about which leader they trust most to deal with Senate issues. Those who picked an actual leader were evenly split among Stephen Harper, Tom Mulcair and Justin Trudeau.