Senate Reform and British Columbia: A Region is a Region is a Region
In June of 2006 the Senate appointed a Special Committee to undertake a comprehensive review of the Senate Reform.
The work of the Special Senate Committee on Senate Reform has focused on two issues:
• Bill S-4, An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867, which would require new senators to be appointed for eight year
terms; and
• The “Murray/Austin Motion”, put forward by committee members Senator Lowell Murray, PC, (Ontario) and Senator
Jack Austin (British Columbia), which proposes that the Constitution Act be amended to recognize British Columbia and the Prairie
provinces as regions to be separately represented in the Senate. The Senate would thus represent five regions, as well as the
three territories.
The Murray/Austin Motion recommends that 12 seats be added to the Senate, and that they be distributed among British Columbia and the Prairie Provinces. This would bring British Columbia’s representation in the Senate from 6 seats to 12; Alberta’s from 6 to 10; Saskatchewan’s from 6 to 7; and Manitoba’s from 6 to 7.
In a speech to Senate on November 21, 2006, I argued that the Murray/Austin Motion would enshrine the establishment of second-class status for British Columbians. The 1996 Constitutional Amendments Act has been amended to acknowledge the reality of British Columbia as a distinctive fifth region. In the words of Senator David Tkachuk, “A region is a region is a region.”
The three founding regions of Quebec, Ontario and the Maritimes each have 24 Senate seats. The Murray/Austin Motion proposes that the Prairie Provinces also be recognized as a region with 24 senators. Under their motion, however, British Columbia, the Pacific region, would receive only 12, not the regional entitlement of 24.
In my address, I maintained that our goal should be regional balance, regional fairness and the elimination of regional inequities. To read the full text of the speech, click here.
Bill S-4 and the Murray/Austin Motion are currently at committee stage. Please follow this link for more information
about the Progress of Legislation. (http://www.parl.gc.ca/39/1/parlbus/chambus
/senate/deb-e/prog-e.htm)
Last updated May 5, 2007