Apparently, Prime Minister Harper will agree to an NDP proposal for e referendum on the abolition of the Canadian Senate. The sadness is that, as a result of sheer lack of education and/or interest, Canadian journalists will be unable or unwilling to explain the true issues before Canadians.
People are badly served by the media when it comes to getting an explanation of the role of the Senate. As a Federation, some provinces were stronger and more populous than others, when they joined. The straight “rep-by-pop” system of the Commons would have overwhelmed the smaller provinces who had, nonetheless, entered Confederation as equals.
Thus, as in the US, the Senate was designed to provide regional representation. But, because it is unelected, it has become illegitimate. But the need for such representation at the centre of the Canadian state still exists. We have seen jury-rigged procedures such as First Minister’s Conferences and the so-called Council of First Ministers. But there is no substitute for what was really intended…i.e. regional representation in the centre of the government.
The Renaissance Man believes that the real solution is an elected Senate. Unfortunately, journalists who have not studied the foundation of this issue are poorly equipped to explain it to Canadians. Thus we hear a lot of Ontario based complaints that the Senate disproportionately represents the Maritimes. An informed journalist would reply “Of course it does!”
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