For a long time now, there has been growing concerns about how majority of the Canadian population are being marginalized when it comes to issues that deal with governance. Past governments were unable to tackle the problem of this marginalization of the majority even though they claimed to help arrive at the “Just Society” that Pierre Elliot Trudeau spoke about when he envisioned Canada as pacesetter for the entire world to follow with regards to democracy.

Not long ago, the greater part of the Canadian population were overjoyed when it came out that the selection of members of the Senate was going to be free and fair through giving citizens the right to be represented by people who reflect our diversity. This was seen as a step in the right direction towards the attainment of the “Just Society” that Canada aims for. However, latest developments has further helped to prove that there are in fact certain elements within the higher authorities who simply do not want democracy to truly prevail in Canada as the selection process of the Senate has been made very cumbersome.

By the new directive, Canadian citizens are being asked to put in a written form the reasons why they think a particular person has to be in the Senate. This is a complete smack in the face of the millions of Canadians who do know people that can move Canada forward in the right direction but do not possess the requisite skills needed to put together an enticing written reference.

Is this the democracy that Canada seeks for? Then it appears that the future is very bleak for Canada in terms of developing as a democratic country for all to emulate. As if being asked to write lengthy pieces as references is not enough, people are also being asked to exhibit a level of understanding with regards to constitution of the land. This simply goes to prove that majority of citizens who might have a competent person in mind will be forced to stay away from the whole process if they cannot present such "Written Letters of References".

The written letter of references process was designed by political elites to keep "non-elites" frozen out of the Senate selection process.

The running of the country through the Senate will remain a task for only the elite under the so-called "new" Senate appointment process which only supports a cosmetic change by taking away official political party affiliations.

If a process that was meant to bring some sanity and fairness to the idea of democracy in Canada can manipulated to favour the very few elite in the society, then the idea of achieving a “Just Society” is actually a dream that can never be fulfilled. How can democracy in Canada be ridiculed in this manner? When the decision of only a few people is able to bring public ridicule to the entire country, then there is a long way to go before Canada can claim to be a democratic nation.

How can people be asked to put in writing their defence of someone they know is qualified to be in the Senate? What happened to taking all the selected candidates through a free and fair vetting process to ascertain their competency? To the outside world, this is not what Canada stands for and the earlier the right thing is done the better it will be for democracy in Canada.

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