General

Meanwhile in Manitoba

An all-party committee of MLAs has submitted a report on Senate reform, in which they recommend dividing the province into six regions and holding an election in each. The winner of each vote (according to a first-past-the-post method) will be put on a list to be forwarded to the prime minister.

Anyway, substantively, this strikes me as an incredibly bad idea. If we’re going to elect the Senate, it should be done along different principles of representation than for the House of Commons, such as PR. Otherwise all you’re doing is adding, to what is currently a de facto unicameral system, an elected upper chamber with virtually all of the powers of the House of Commons, where the members are elected by a constituency in what amounts to a one-time vote, until they retire at 75. This is a recipe for utter chaos.

Oh, but apparently the report also states that the Manitoba legislature has no problems with the federal government’s desire to implement 8-year term limits for the Senate. Well gee, thanks guys. I’m sure the members of the Senate are A-OK with how Manitoba elects its MLAs as well. But maybe they should strike an all-party committee of Senators just to be sure. Maybe they’ll surprise us and recommend that the Manitoba legislature be filled with the first 57 names from the Teulon phone book. How fun would that be!

What’s that you say? What business is it of Senators? Exactly. Similarly, what possible business is it of the MLAs of Manitoba how the Parliament of Canada staffs itself?

Honest to god this sounds appalling, both in procedure and in result. Does anyone know where we can find a copy of the report? I’ve poked around online and can’t find it anywhere… it can’t possibly be as idiotic as the news report makes it sound.

Looking for more?

Get the Best of Maclean's sent straight to your inbox. Sign up for news, commentary and analysis.
  • By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.