OTTAWA (NEWS 1130) – Today could be a pivotal one for Canada’s Senate.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is in Saskatchewan today where it’s expected he will call for the abolition of the Upper House.
A report in the National Post is suggested Harper and Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall will call for outright abolition of the Red Chamber.
In an email exchange, the prime minister’s director of communications tells NEWS 1130 Parliament Hill reporter Cormac MacSweeny the PM is in Saskatchewan to talk about forest fires. He says while the topic of the Senate may come up, that is not why he is there.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau joined us live in the NEWS 1130 studios this morning. He says such a move would be an attempt by the Conservatives to take the attention away from a faltering economy ahead of an election.
“This is all a distraction from the fact that he has no plan on the economy and is struggling to actually keep Canadians’ heads above water. The fact is he’s promising constitutional negotiations with the provinces right now, which is not what people are at home worried about,” he argues.
“We’re the only party that has actually said, ‘No. We can reform the Senate according to what the Surpreme Court said… by releasing senators from partisanship and appointing them in an independent way. That’s the kind of responsible behaviour that people expect from a prime minister,” says Trudeau.
Listen to the full interview with Trudeau:
“The Conservatives have long called for reform to the Senate but they’ve never called for the abolition of the Senate. So this shift… would be a surprise if the Conservatives do take that route,” says MacSweeney.
With an election looming and the Senate expense scandal continuing to hang in the air, MacSweeny points out it would be a good time to officially introduce the idea.
“To call for it right now would be a politically good thing to do, in one way, in the lead up to the election. But the Conservatives would definitely be called on the fact that they had never called for this in the past… and this has never really been the party’s position before.”
Federal NDP leader Tom Mulcair has already been critical of such a move, calling it an 11th-hour conversion for the Conservatives.
An Angus Reid poll in April showed Canadians are split on the issue, with 41 per cent favouring abolition, while 45 per cent said reform is enough.
Only 14 per cent said the Senate is fine as is.