Unelected senators should quit Senate after Harper’s makeover
Ontario Premier Dalton Mc-Guinty is dead-set against Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s plans to put some teeth into the Senate and bring it into the modern world.
The Liberal politician sees clearly giving the Senate a more balanced regional representation—and letting the people choose who they want to serve in the Upper House—will erode the dominance of Ontario’s 106 seats in the Commons.
McGuinty is all for Ontario muscling its way around, not so much for equality for our other provinces.
Forget Harper’s tactical move of Montreal’s Michael Fortier’s appointment to the Senate—a master stroke that will stoke Conservative votes across Quebec come the next election. From now on, as each of the patronage-pleasured crop of current senators is forced out by reason of the mandatory retirement age of 75, they will be replaced by senators with the backing of their province’s voters.
The totalitarian nature of the Senate—in which individual voters in each province have no say in who will represent their interests in that arbitrary institution—will be over.
In “Gang of six,” (Jan. 29) I noted the charade of this institution that in the 21st century allows unelected individuals to override the true elected representatives of the people.
This is particularly an insult to the people of our province, for we have a legal Alberta Senate Elections Act in which our voters get to choose whom they want to sit and represent them in the Senate.
Sadly, none of the current crew holding Alberta’s seats in the Senate has been chosen by the people they supposedly represent: Joyce Fairbairn and Dan Hays were picked by Pierre Trudeau—the man who idolized monsters such as Mao Zedong and Fidel Castro—Tommy Banks by the disgraced Jean Chretien, and Grant Mitchell, Elaine McCoy and Claudette Tardif by shipping tycoon Paul Martin.
Chretien and Martin gave the boot to the likes of Bert Brown, Ted Morton, Link Byfield, Betty Unger and Cliff Breitkreuz, who had the courage to put their names on the ballot and actually seek the approval of Alberta voters.
Now, with our elected senators individually piling up more votes than all federal Grit candidates combined in their elections, you might suppose with the Alberta elections act in force, and with such huge provincial backing for our elected senators, Banks, Mitchell, McCoy and Tardif might have taken the high road and refused the proffered hands of Chretien and Martin and insisted those rightfully chosen by the Alberta people take their seats instead.
One might even have thought Fairbairn and Hays, having sat in the Senate since 1984, might have assessed how they had had their run, and done the same.
But no—perhaps the (tarnished) prestige, (unaccountable) power and lavish pay, lavish perks and lavish exotic travel were too tempting to give up.
Now, here’s something to make you think:
Since Fairbairn and Hays were appointed in 1984 and will not have to retire until 2014 this means for fully 30 years—three long decades—they have been able to thwart the will of our elected MPs without the Alberta people having any recourse.
Is that democratic? Sounds pretty dictatorial to me.
Mitchell—who failed to convince Alberta voters of his adequacy when he led the limping provincial Liberal party in our province gets to lord it over our elected MPs for 21 years without caring what the folks back home want.
Tardif—an acclaimed academic—can hamper Stephen Harper’s agenda—or his successor’s agenda—for the next 16 years.
McCoy can work to block Conservative legislation for the next 15 years. Banks can spend the next 11 years putting up roadblocks against our province’s elected representatives.
Does this seem right? Is it fair? Of course not.
Martin, before voters put the boot to his more than ample rear end, used mishmash and bogus excuses as the reasons he couldn’t appoint our elected senators.
Well, Brian Mulroney somehow wasn’t bound by bogus constitutional excuses—he appointed elected Reformer and war hero Stan Waters to the Senate in 1990. Unfortunately, Waters died in 1991.
Come on, Joyce, Dan, Tommy, Grant, Elaine and Claudette, do the right thing: Resign with dignity and let democracy win the day rather than some archaic dictatorial mandate.
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