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Mulcair said it is a “scandal in a modern democracy” to have an “unelected” senate, and accused Harper of keeping the status quo in order to reward his friends.

“It’s a shame that a band of unelected people can overturn the decisions of the elected representatives,” Mulcair said.

Mulcair didn’t directly answer a question from Postmedia News about the future of the senate earlier in the week.

We favour reforming the senate, including having elected senators, something I’ve named whenever I’ve had the opportunity

Mulcair was asked outside the House of Commons, “If you formed government, would you appoint Senators?”

The NDP leader responded, “We’re starting now to explain exactly what we’re going to do, which is to work with the provinces and territories to abolish the unelected, unaccountable, and unapologetic Senate, and we’re not going to change our point of view. That’s been our position for the past 50 years.”

Asked if that meant he wouldn’t appoint senators while his party works on abolition, Mulcair told Postmedia News, “We’re putting forward this motion now because our goal is that the Senate be abolished before 2015, when we will form government.”

The fate of the Senate presently rests in the hands of the Supreme Court of Canada, which has been asked to rule on the constitutional path the federal government should follow to reform or abolish it. The court will not hear the case until November, and when it might rule after that is unknown.

Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have already applied for intervenor status, while the remaining provinces and territories hinted in court documents that they too may intervene.

Should the NDP form government in 2015, it would have to deal with the Senate in order to pass legislation. Even if talks about abolition started now among provinces and federal government, it would likely take longer than two years for legislation to be passed abolishing the chamber.