The reviews are in

The Star-Phoenix editorial board slams the latest example of Senate entitlement:

Canada's senators, whose ranks are about to swell with another round of politically expedient appointments by the prime minister, have quietly given themselves access to taxpayer-funded international junkets -- a perk they admit isn't available to politicians almost anywhere else.

But, such is their sense of self-importance and entitlement that the unelected Canadian senators feel their needs are unlike those of most other elected politicians.

"The argument can be made, which we were convinced by, that given the role of our Senate -- somewhat individualistic where we have certain causes and we are somewhat thick in our own right -- in some cases there's merit and benefit to our country to allow individual senators to pursue certain activities in international travel," was the convoluted rationale offered by Liberal Sen. Paul Massicotte.

This even though, as he notes, "If you look at U.S. policy, at every province and at the House of Commons -- we should be grown up about this -- it is generally prohibited to do foreign travel without many exceptions. It is nearly a flat-out no."
...
The prime minister seems to be having some difficulty making the Upper Chamber a responsible arm of government. That's no excuse, however, for its members to act so irresponsibly when it comes to spending the taxpayer's money. This padding of travel privileges is unacceptable and should be withdrawn immediately.