Tory proposal for elected Senate appeals to core constituency
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OTTAWA (CP) - Conservative Leader Stephen Harper promised Wednesday to establish a federal process for the election of senators. Here's a closer look.
Harper says electing senators would restore the legitimacy of Canada's chamber of sober second thought, which has fallen into disrepute as a refuge for political hacks appointed by the prime minister.
"An appointed Senate is a relic of the 19th Century . . . The Liberal position of all-or-nothing reform, of no change until everything is changed, is designed to take us nowhere." Harper during a campaign event in Vancouver on Dec. 14. 2005.
Harper is playing to his core constituency in the West, where Senate reform has long been seen as a prime way to combat western alienation, counter-balancing the dominance of Ontario and Quebec in the House of Commons. Given the cynicism about government cronyism in the wake of the sponsorship scandal, University of Victoria political scientist Norman Ruff said Harper's proposal to democratize the Senate may also resonate with voters across the country.
Most western Senate reform advocates would ideally like a Triple E Senate: elected, with equal representation from each province and effective powers. But that idea has never gained much support in Ontario or Quebec, the two provinces whose influence in Parliament would be diluted by an equal Senate. Furthermore, such comprehensive reform would require constitutional negotiations, a potential hornets' nest that few federal politicians want to stir up.
Rather than wait for comprehensive reform that may never come, many reform advocates have urged the federal government to appoint only senators who are elected by voters in their respective provinces - an incremental step that doesn't require a constitutional amendment but which would get the reform ball rolling.
That is what Harper is now promising to do. It was not clear, for instance, if Harper intends for Senate elections to be held at the same time as federal or provincial elections. A Tory official said such details would likely be worked out in conjunction with the provinces.
While Ontarians and Quebecers have always been lukewarm or even hostile to Senate reform, Ruff said a proposal to simply elect senators, without making any other changes that would reduce central Canadian clout, would probably be not ruffle too many feathers. However, Prime Minister Paul Martin has rejected piecemeal Senate reform. He told B.C. high school students Tuesday that electing Senators, without changing the current provincial representation in the Senate, would amount to legitimizing regional inequities. Currently, the Atlantic provinces have 30 Senate seats, Ontario and Quebec each have 24 seats, and the western provinces have only six each.
Alberta Premier Ralph Klein has tried to force the issue by holding two subsequent Senate elections but the winners have never been named to the Senate. B.C. introduced Senate election legislation but has never used it. New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord has flirted with the idea.
©The Canadian Press, 2005
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OTTAWA (CP) - Conservative Leader Stephen Harper promised Wednesday to establish a federal process for the election of senators. Here's a closer look.
Harper says electing senators would restore the legitimacy of Canada's chamber of sober second thought, which has fallen into disrepute as a refuge for political hacks appointed by the prime minister.
"An appointed Senate is a relic of the 19th Century . . . The Liberal position of all-or-nothing reform, of no change until everything is changed, is designed to take us nowhere." Harper during a campaign event in Vancouver on Dec. 14. 2005.
Harper is playing to his core constituency in the West, where Senate reform has long been seen as a prime way to combat western alienation, counter-balancing the dominance of Ontario and Quebec in the House of Commons. Given the cynicism about government cronyism in the wake of the sponsorship scandal, University of Victoria political scientist Norman Ruff said Harper's proposal to democratize the Senate may also resonate with voters across the country.
Most western Senate reform advocates would ideally like a Triple E Senate: elected, with equal representation from each province and effective powers. But that idea has never gained much support in Ontario or Quebec, the two provinces whose influence in Parliament would be diluted by an equal Senate. Furthermore, such comprehensive reform would require constitutional negotiations, a potential hornets' nest that few federal politicians want to stir up.
Rather than wait for comprehensive reform that may never come, many reform advocates have urged the federal government to appoint only senators who are elected by voters in their respective provinces - an incremental step that doesn't require a constitutional amendment but which would get the reform ball rolling.
That is what Harper is now promising to do. It was not clear, for instance, if Harper intends for Senate elections to be held at the same time as federal or provincial elections. A Tory official said such details would likely be worked out in conjunction with the provinces.
While Ontarians and Quebecers have always been lukewarm or even hostile to Senate reform, Ruff said a proposal to simply elect senators, without making any other changes that would reduce central Canadian clout, would probably be not ruffle too many feathers. However, Prime Minister Paul Martin has rejected piecemeal Senate reform. He told B.C. high school students Tuesday that electing Senators, without changing the current provincial representation in the Senate, would amount to legitimizing regional inequities. Currently, the Atlantic provinces have 30 Senate seats, Ontario and Quebec each have 24 seats, and the western provinces have only six each.
Alberta Premier Ralph Klein has tried to force the issue by holding two subsequent Senate elections but the winners have never been named to the Senate. B.C. introduced Senate election legislation but has never used it. New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord has flirted with the idea.
©The Canadian Press, 2005
