POL111H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Constitution Act, 1982, Central Canada, Justin Trudeau
Document Summary
Harper"s legislation would also have provided for a fixed term of 9 years for elected senators. Remember, right now senators serve until they reach 75. Under harper"s legislation there would instead be a regular turn-over in senate membership. More people would get the chance to serve. The response to harper"s plan: central canada fights back. The response to pm harper"s plan for an elected and more credible senate tells us a lot about who has the power in canada. All the premiers in western canada supported the concept of an elected senate when harper was pm. Both quebec and ontario opposed an elected senate. As we have seen, central canada controls the house of commons. The last thing the premiers of central canada want is a senate with enough democratic credibility to challenge the house. And the federal liberal party opposed an elected senate for the same reason: its power base in the house of commons is central canada.
