The Upper House of Canada’s Parliament no longer serves a useful purpose. It’s time to get rid of the 105 members who are appointed till age 75 but some act like they are toddlers.

It’s time to get rid of the red chamber that is supposed to create sober second thoughts but could drive a person to drink.

It’s time to get rid of the people who create bureaucracy and duplication instead of regional representation. A waste of taxpayers’ money and a waste of time, the Senate has outlived its usefulness.

For me there was no Eureka moment when it became clear that the end has come for the Senate. Rather the Senate’s death has come by a thousand cuts.

Many people wanted to abolish the Red Chamber after the scandals of Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau. These scandals destroyed public trust in Parliament and government. The Senate scandals hurt the very institution it was created to support.

I was prepared to give the Senate one last chance.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to make positive reforms at the Senate level.

First he removed Liberal senators from the Liberal caucus. The idea was to make it less partisan. Trudeau promised once elected to appoint senators who were non-partisan and received their appointment based on merit.

The reforms were intended to clean up a political mess that has instead just gotten worse.

This past week the Senate inquiry into workplace harassment claims against former Senator Don Meredith resumed despite the fact he resigned. The inquiry has been going on for two years.

It is a reminder about everything wrong in Ottawa instead of all the great things that happen.

It is a reminder that the disgraced Senator gets to keep his pension because he resigned.

Last Thursday the Senate finally passed the Trudeau government budget bill. The current senators had been spending their time in Ottawa delaying the government’s budget bill.

It is not the purpose of an unelected group of people to re-write the government budget bill.

There was no useful purpose for the Senate to be wasting time and money on delaying the passage of the budget.

What it does prove is that we do not need to be paying 105 senators $145,400 each to do what the Official Opposition already does – which is hold the government to account.

Perhaps the straw that broke the camel’s back for me is the Senate delaying passage of Bill C-210.

This is the private member’s bill of the late Mauril Belanger that changes the lyrics of O Canada to make them gender neutral.

The bill was passed by Parliament and its approval should have been completed by the Senate last summer.

However because Bélanger has died — he passed away from ALS last summer— some Senators are trying to delay the passage. If it is sent back to Parliament, MPs would have to unanimously agree for another MP to act as sponsor of the bill to oppose the amendment, something that is unlikely and would kill the legislation.

Bill C-210 has been at the Senate for over a full year, where it has been debated nearly 20 times, with several attempts to further amend and change the language of the anthem.

It’s pathetic partisan politics and it’s proof that the Senate no longer functions. It is time to abolish the Senate.

Jim Warren is a Liberal political strategist and media commentator. He worked for former Toronto mayor Mel Lastman and former Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty and is currently a principal at grgadvisors.ca and CEO of Riseley Gaming Inc. His column appears Sundays.