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“Stephen Harper’s initiative to refer this to the Supreme Court to look at changing things is probably well timed given the events that have taken place over the last while,” Bricker said.

“But the movement seems to be more toward what the NDP is recommending, which is abolition. That’s where the momentum is.”

The red chamber has been the subject of intense scrutiny, coming to a boil when former Conservative and now Independent Sen. Patrick Brazeau was suspended from the Senate after being charged earlier this month with sexual assault and assault.

The charges have not been proven in court.

Meanwhile, the Senate is investigating hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of expense claims of all of its members, and has referred some cases to an external auditor for review.

There was a lot of talk in the west about the Triple-E Senate – equal, effective and elected

The Conservative government has asked the Supreme Court of Canada to review the constitutionality of Senate reform, including how the country could go about eliminating a chamber that costs about $92 million a year.

“Back in the 1980s, there was a lot of talk in the west about the Triple-E Senate – equal, effective and elected. But what seems to have happened is that that movement, that concept, seems to have declined a bit over time, whereas the idea of abolition seems to be moving up,” Bricker said.

At 52 per cent, Atlantic Canadians were the most like to say that the Senate should be done away with completely, according to the poll. They were followed by Quebecers, at 48 per cent, and Albertans, at 39 per cent.

Those in British Columbia were most likely to say they wanted Senate reform, at 52 per cent.

Ontarians, at 27 per cent, were the most likely to say that the Senate should be left the way it is. They were followed by those in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, at 25 per cent, and those in Quebec, at 19 per cent.

The poll surveyed a sample of 1,009 Canadians in an online panel between Feb. 13 and Feb. 15, 2013, and is considered accurate to within plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, 95 per cent of the time.