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Conservative MP Michael Chong holds a press conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa on December 3, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean KilpatrickSean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

When Senator Mobina Jaffer asked Conservative MP Michael Chong whether the Senate should simply rubber-stamp his private member's bill, he replied: "That is correct." Frank, undiplomatic and 100-per-cent correct.

The Reform Act, 2014, is an excellent candidate for upper-chamber rubber-stamping. It is entirely concerned with the House of Commons. It was passed overwhelmingly by the Commons earlier this year. Bill C-586, now before the Senate committee on rules, procedures and the rights of Parliament, is designed to diminish the trained-seal status of most members of the Commons.

Unless the Senate passes the bill, and quickly, it will die with the summer recess. The fall election means the end of this Parliament.

Among other reforms, the bill includes a provision for a leadership review by a party caucus. Senator Denise Batters, a Conservative from Saskatchewan, a member of the Senate rules committee, objected, "In the case of the government, that could potentially remove a duly elected prime minister without consultation of party members or Canadian voters." Senator David Wells, a Conservative from Newfoundland and Labrador, made a similar point.

But when Canadians vote, they are voting for members of the House of Commons, not prime ministers. We don't have a presidential system, or at least we're not supposed to. And a leadership review is just a review. It does not amount to an automatic coup d'état against the first minister. Prime ministers are chosen according to whoever is most likely to form a stable government based on how things stand in the House of Commons, and it is extremely hard for lapdog-like backbenchers to stand up to their leader.

The Senate committee will go through the bill clause by clause next Tuesday. At least one senator apparently plans to introduce an amendment. If all goes well, the Senate will not pass that amendment. Because if it passes, and the bill is sent back to the Commons, it is something close to a death sentence. The Commons might have time to reconsider and pass the amended bill before summer, but it's not likely.

Senators should remember this: The Commons, the chamber this bill affects, passed Bill C-586 by a very large margin. It would be wrong if this moderate and desirable reform had to start all over after the federal election – or not at all.

All we are saying is, Give the trained seals a chance.

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