So the Canadian Senate functions like the old version of the UK House of Lords? no elections just appointments and hereditary titles being granted seats?
All Senators are appointed by the Prime Minister, no hereditary appointments. The Liberals have controlled the Senate for something like 90 of the last 95 years even though they have been booted from office a number of times. The only reason the Tories held the senate for a few years in the late 1980s and early 1990s is because PM Mulroney used a clause in the Constitution that allows the PM to stack the Senate with extra seats when the Senate refuses to pass legislation. When Harper gets a majority I am really looking forward to Constitutional Reform.