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Canadians not satisfied with Senate status quo: poll

A view shows the Senate Chamber on Parliament Hill in Ottawa April 24, 2014. The Supreme Court of Canada will deliver its opinion Friday on how Canada's unelected Senate can be reformed or abolished. REUTERS/Chris Wattie (CANADA - Tags: POLITICS)

The next few months may be an exercise in airing the dirty laundry of members of the country’s Upper Chamber, as if Canadians needed more fodder to fuel their disappointment in the 148-year-old institution.

A new poll from Angus Reid suggests an overwhelming number of Canadians want the Senate to change.

According the the poll, conducted between March 11 and 12, 45 per cent of respondents said the Senate should be reformed and 41 per cent said the Upper Chamber should be outright abolished. Only 14 per cent said the Senate should stay as it is.

Respondents also don’t trust any of the political parties in the House of Commons to fix the Senate.

Only 17 per cent said they trusted Prime Minister Stephen Harper to effectively deal with Senate issues, 16 per cent said the same for NDP leader Tom Mulcair and 15 per cent responded this way for Liberal leader Justin Trudeau.

More than one third, or 34 per cent of respondents, said they trust “none of the above” to effectively deal with the Upper Chamber. Another 17 per cent weren’t sure.

Senate spending scandal

Canada’s Upper Chamber has been embroiled in a flurry of scandal over the last couple of years, since it was revealed back in 2012 that Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin, Mac Harb and Patrick Brazeau allegedly claimed housing and travel expenses inappropriately. Duffy’s case — with the infamous $90,000 cheque and the resignation of Harper’s right-hand man Nigel Wright — brought significant public scrutiny to the Upper Chamber.

More troubles in the Senate are expected to be brought to light as Duffy gets his days in court, beginning Tuesday. The embattled former senator is facing dozens of fraud-related charges, and will be in court until June.

Expense issues triggered the auditor general to take a closer look at how senators are using taxpayer dollars. Michael Ferguson’s office has been reviewing senators’ expenses since 2013 and is expected to release the results by the end of June as well.

The Angus Reid poll also suggests Canadians aren’t looking at the Senate as an election issue. Only 16 per cent of respondents said Senate issues would be a deciding factor when they cast their ballot for the upcoming federal election.

As would be expected, NDP supporters are more inclined to abolish the Senate, while Liberal supporters, according to Angus Reid, are more likely to want reform. Conservatives are split on abolish or reform.

The survey results come from a randomized sample of 1,500 Canadian adults. An Angus Reid report on the poll’s findings says the margin of error for the survey is plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.