One of the least reported stories by the national press has been the Conservative government’s attempt to clean up the Senate. As everyone in Canada knows, our Senate is mostly an institution of party hacks, who are rewarded with a seat in the Upper Chamber. Although there are some exceptions, most senators are drawn from the political elite. In a practical sense, the Senate does not have democratic representation.

Prime Minister Harper has been trying hard to reform the Senate, precisely because of its undemocratic nature. The Senate needs to be more democratic and regionally representative. (For example, the long gun registry would likely have never become law with a reformed Senate in place.)

The Prime Minister is trying to change the Senate one step at a time. First, we have put forward a bill that would limit the term of a senator to eight years. Secondly, we tabled legislation which requires the Prime Minister to choose his Senate appointments from a list of people who ran in an election in the province where the Senate has a vacancy. Presumably the Prime Minister would appoint the winner of the election. It would take an exceptionally arrogant Prime Minister to appoint a person who lost a Senate election over the winner.

For right now, this is as far as we can go without major constitutional change. We are hoping the provinces will coordinate their provincial elections with Senate elections. This is particularly important for Saskatchewan, since one of our Senate seats will be vacant in 2008 when Senator Len Gustafson turns 75, the mandatory age of retirement.. We need the provincial government to pass legislation requiring Senate elections in Saskatchewan.

Therefore, I’m challenging Saskatchewan Party leader Brad Wall, Liberal Party leader David Karwacki and NDP Premier Lorne Calvert to publicly declare that they will hold a Senate election during the next provincial election. To prevent disasters like the long gun registry from happening again, we need strong regional representation. We need the three party leaders to take a stand and join the federal government in pushing for Senate reform.

I’m asking the provincial party leaders to be accountable in the next provincial election. I hope you will join me and stand up for Saskatchewan by supporting Senate reform.

I’m Brad Trost, your Member of Parliament in Saskatoon-Humboldt. You can call my office in Saskatoon at 975-6133. I always appreciate your feedback.