Say one thing for the political appointees known as Canadian senators, they sure know how to hold their ground.
By most accounts, they were members of the last legislative chamber in the Western world to keep TV cameras out.
As of today, proceedings in the Red Chamber can and will be televised.
The Senate of Canada building is pictured in February. The Senate will remain in what is Ottawa’s Old Train Station during the renovations of the Parliament Hill Centre Block. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)
The move comes 42 years after the House of Commons let the cameras in.
Many of the senators had resisted because they feared their mandate to supply “sober second thought” would degenerate into partisan politics if cameras appeared.
But in 2016, a committee charged with modernizing the Senate recommended that proceedings in the chamber be televised to show Canadians the “value” of the upper house.
A committee report noted that broadcasting proceedings would demonstrate ‘high quality of debate’ in Red Chamber.”
However, at least for now, senators will not be sharing their sober second thoughts from their long-time lair, the Red Chamber.
Because of major renovation work on Parliament Hill, the Senate is currently housed at the Government Conference Centre.
Once Ottawa’s central train station, the building has been the site of many famous events in Canadian history, including the federal-provincial meetings that led to the repatriation of the Constitution in 1982.
With files from CBC, CP, CTV, Global
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