Should Newfoundland and Labrador Lead Canada in Senate Reform?

Should Canada’s youngest province help the Country take its first baby steps into the world of Senate reform?

One of the planks in the conservative party platform during the recent election was the promise to do away with political patronage as the Country’s method for filling senate seats. They promised to do this by introducing the reality of an elected senate and now an opportunity to do exactly that exists here in Newfoundland and Labrador. Unfortunately it now appears that our newly minted government in Ottawa is a little wary of moving forward on this promise right away.

With the passing of the late Senator Bill Doody just after Christmas Newfoundland and Labrador has an empty seat to fill. The question now is should it be filled with an appointed senator or should the province and the new federal government seize this opportunity to move forward on their agenda for senate reform?

Reports over the weekend seem to confirm that the Conservative party is leaning toward a simple appointment. They are claiming that the reforms they’ve suggested would take time and that waiting would leave the Province with one less voice in Ottawa. Perhaps this is true, but what better way to force the issue and speed up the process of reform than to move forward while this empty seat is available?

Think about the spin the new government could get out of this with regards to looking like a truly national party. I can read the headline now:

“Western ideas bear fruit down East.”

One of the problems Mr. Harper is going to have with actually moving forward on Senate elections is how to get the first senator in his desk, or rather how to pry the old senators out. The reality is such that the current Senate is made up of members who have basically been given lifetime jobs (until age 75 anyway) so its not going to be that easy to simply open up seats for election. Here we have an opportunity, albeit the result of a very sad event, but an opportunity none the less to move forward.

I for one don’t mind if the Province has one less Senator in Ottawa for the time being if that means we can help get these reforms put into place. The fact is I’d rather have any seat filled with one elected voice answerable to me than a hundred voices answerable to no one, or even worse, answerable to those who appointed them.

Perhaps the Province itself should take the bull by the horns and simply force the issue. I’m not talking simply about our Premier and members of the public pushing this issue back into the face of our new Prime Minister by yelling and screaming, no I’m talking about taking real steps for reform.

Maybe Newfoundland and Labrador should simply put out a call for senate candidates, then go right ahead and elect our choice for representative. No doubt there would be some pretty strong push back from Ottawa over the validity of the election and its results, and technically they’d be right, but the ball would then be in their court.

The federal government would be forced to face the fact that the people of a Province have decided who they want to fill their senate seat. That isn’t something the government could simply ignore and it isn't something they could pretend didn’t happen. The reality is that our federal government would be faced with three real possibilities in a situation like that:

1 – They would be forced to move quickly forward with promised reforms so as not to be out maneuvered by the Province and in order not to look like they are stepping back from their senate reform promises. If they are seen to be soft on instituting these reforms they would likely lose much of their core support out West and that could spell the end of the party as a major entity in Canadian politics;

2 – They could leave the actual reform process to be addressed later but stand by the choice of the people and appoint the individual elected. This would not move the official cause of Senate reform forward but it would send a clear signal and might even set a precedent that would likely be followed by other Provinces and other Prime Ministers in future. This might provide much the same result as true election reform.

3 – They could ignore the will of the electorate and simply appoint a member of the party faithful that is not recognized by the people of the Province. The backlash from a move like that would no doubt resonate to the four corners of the Country and likely cause the complete collapse of Conservative support within its Western strongholds and perhaps right across the Nation.

Of course making this move would be a bold decisive action on the Province’s part, but the new government in Ottawa has already promised to give more power and voice to the Provinces and here is a perfect opportunity to facilitate that.

If there are three things I’ve learned over the years it’s that power isn’t something someone gives you but rather it's something you earn or simply take on. Secondly, only by using power do you really have it and finally, as I’ve always said, “It’s far easier to get forgiveness than it is to get permission.”