CALGARY -- The federal minister responsible for democratic reform says abolition of the Senate would be preferable to the status quo.

Pierre Poilievre says the federal government is awaiting word from the Supreme Court on whether it can proceed with plans to reform the upper chamber.

But he says if the top court rejects the plan, abolition would be the next best step.

Poilievre says it would be up to the provinces to put forward the idea, but Ottawa would not offer any objection to abolition.

Poilievre was speaking to a Senate reform symposium hosted in Calgary by the Manning Foundation for Democratic Education.

He says democracy has come along way in Canada, but the Senate remains largely unchanged after 146 years.