Ex-Reform wookie Rick Anderson published a sad little piece in The Star last week, bemoaning the fate of Bert Brown. Five years ago, this humble Alberta wheat farmer was elected as a "senator-in-waiting" under legislation near and dear to the heart of Ralph Klein. Alas, Brown is still waiting: despite an existing Senate vacancy for Alberta (with one more opening Feb. 8, and another soon after), no one in Ottawa has seen fit to guarantee Brown his fat pension in the Red Chamber.
Martin's half-assed sops to democratic reform have won him little applause in either the West or Quebec. His recent proposal to have MPs vet Senate appointments was quickly quashed, after he realized that one chamber of a bicameral parliament picking the members of the other defeats the purpose of the whole arrangement. The backpedalling and Bernard Lord-esque waffling will make it tough for Martin to get traction on his "democratic deficit" agenda, or for him to have any credibility with Canadians when he does.
On the record, PM's open to proposals brought forward by the premiers to make the Senate an effective agent of regional interests. Any lazy observer of inter-provincial dealings can tell this is a ploy to download responsibility and mire the debate in just the sort of endless consultative process the prime minister adores.
Martin should take the first step: Working through the new Council of the Federation, he could give the chamber some credibility by setting out criteria and a means of ensuring that Senate vacancies are filled by candidates who satisfy the demands of public interest as well as the provinces. This would have to be a medium-term solution, though, announced in tandem with a coherent long-term vision of how the Liberals will achieve an elected and effective Senate by the end of their next mandate.
The Fathers of Confederation meant for the upper house to work, and the constitutional contortions of the 1980s and early 1990s recognized that the Senate's transformation is key to a modern, durable federation. Senators have already proven they can contribute meaningfully to public policy: Joan Fraser's work on media concentration, Landon Pearson's on children, Douglas Roche's on disarmnament, and Michael Kirby's on health care are just a few examples.
Piecemeal changes of the Albertan variety are not the answer. But Anderson does have a point when he notes that Brown was "elected" with 332 000 votes--about 70 000 more than all the Liberal candidates in Alberta garnered in 2000.
Martin's half-assed sops to democratic reform have won him little applause in either the West or Quebec. His recent proposal to have MPs vet Senate appointments was quickly quashed, after he realized that one chamber of a bicameral parliament picking the members of the other defeats the purpose of the whole arrangement. The backpedalling and Bernard Lord-esque waffling will make it tough for Martin to get traction on his "democratic deficit" agenda, or for him to have any credibility with Canadians when he does.
On the record, PM's open to proposals brought forward by the premiers to make the Senate an effective agent of regional interests. Any lazy observer of inter-provincial dealings can tell this is a ploy to download responsibility and mire the debate in just the sort of endless consultative process the prime minister adores.
Martin should take the first step: Working through the new Council of the Federation, he could give the chamber some credibility by setting out criteria and a means of ensuring that Senate vacancies are filled by candidates who satisfy the demands of public interest as well as the provinces. This would have to be a medium-term solution, though, announced in tandem with a coherent long-term vision of how the Liberals will achieve an elected and effective Senate by the end of their next mandate.
The Fathers of Confederation meant for the upper house to work, and the constitutional contortions of the 1980s and early 1990s recognized that the Senate's transformation is key to a modern, durable federation. Senators have already proven they can contribute meaningfully to public policy: Joan Fraser's work on media concentration, Landon Pearson's on children, Douglas Roche's on disarmnament, and Michael Kirby's on health care are just a few examples.
Piecemeal changes of the Albertan variety are not the answer. But Anderson does have a point when he notes that Brown was "elected" with 332 000 votes--about 70 000 more than all the Liberal candidates in Alberta garnered in 2000.
