A Swipe At Senate Reform

In a recent column in ‘The Hill Times’, former Vancouver mayor and current Liberal Senator Larry Campbell accused the Conservative government of neglecting British Columbia. At issue was Senate reform and recent Conservative attempts to change the upper chamber. In criticizing the proposed legislation before the Senate, Senator Campbell suggests that if Harper were really serious about “true reform”, he would re-distribute Senate seats to increase the disproportionately small number of seats that British Columbia holds.

Firstly, it seems ironic that he, as an unelected and appointed Senator whose term lasts until 2023, is accusing the Harper government of neglecting British Columbians. It is ironic because he is part of a group of Liberal Senators that have refused to support a series of initiatives that will make the upper chamber more accountable and, in practice, elected – something that a majority of British Columbians (indeed, most Canadians) desire. In fact, according to a recent Decima poll, 72% of Canadians agree with Harper’s plan to impose 8-year term limits on Senators and 64% favour the broader set of legislation that Harper has proposed, numbers that I would suggest would be even higher in British Columbia. If anything, it appears that the person who is not fulfilling his obligation to represent the opinions of British Columbians is Senator Campbell himself.

Senator Campbell’s criticism is also completely unreasonable. To attempt to change the distribution of seats at this point in time would be extremely foolish. By ‘true reform’, Campbell is referring to constitutional amendments, a topic that, at the very mention of the term, still induces nausea in many British Columbians. Would it be wise for one of the smallest minority governments in Canadian history to engage in mega-constitutional politics when huge majorities have failed? Mulroney had the largest Caucus in Canadian history and one of the most dominant holds on the House of Commons, yet he failed in his attempts to democratize the senate. There have been countless attempts at Senate reform since the 1970s. None have succeeded.

Given the colossal failure of mega-constitutional politics in the past, Harper’s plan seems quite logical and sound. His intention is to implement smaller, bite-sized reforms to socialize the Canadian population into expecting an elected senate, an expectation that will create an atmosphere in which Canadians will overwhelmingly support an elected senate and any constitutional changes thereof. The key to mega-constitutional reform is massive and Canadian-wide public and political support, and unfortunately, this is not currently the case. In a country as large and diverse as Canada, such simplistic demands as an instant increase in the amount of senate seats that B.C. holds is uninformed and foolish. Larry Campbell, as a man who is supposedly accustomed to politics and purports to represent the interests of the country as well as his province, should know better.