Senate Reform - Not So Simple

Quite a few Progressive Conservatives opposed senate reform of any sort, believing the Westminster system as it stands serves us well. Certainly there was openness to looking at distribution of seats. Those in my old party, the one that no longer exists, who really followed the issue were always uniformly opposed to simplistic senate reform.

I was pleased to see an article in the Globe’s comment section today touching on this. Gordon Gibson (who comments on senate reform frequently) writes:

The fuss over the addition of a Quebecker to the cabinet by way of a Senate appointment reminds us directly of one of Stephen Harper’s least noticed, and perhaps most dangerous, promises. Mr. Harper plans to appoint future senators to vacancies only on the basis of advisory elections in the province concerned—the purpose being to “reform” the Senate by making it elected.

This would be bad for the country and a disaster for his beloved Alberta and much-wooed Ontario and British Columbia, which collectively produce 67 per cent of the nation’s wealth and yet are a small minority in the Senate. More >

Unfortunately much of the discussion of this borders on the arcane, at least for the palates of many Canadians, and its going to be very hard to raise public awareness of the potential pitfalls without concerted effort.