Statement made on 07 June 2011 by Senator James Cowan
Hon. James S. Cowan (Leader of the Opposition):
Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate. I welcome her back to her new old position. I look forward to dealing with her here in the Senate.
Last Friday's Throne Speech stated:
Reform of the Senate remains a priority for our Government. Our Government will reintroduce legislation to limit term lengths and to encourage provinces and territories to hold elections for Senate nominees.
In other words, it is the same legislation that the government has been proposing since 2006.
Senate reform has been in the headlines for weeks, with many provinces expressing serious concerns regarding the government's unilateral approach to these constitutional changes. The Province of Quebec issued a clear warning to the Harper government that it would challenge the constitutionality and the legitimacy of any such changes before the courts at the earliest opportunity. Despite the concerns expressed by the provinces, our constitutional partners, the leader's government has not agreed to refer this important constitutional matter to the Supreme Court of Canada.
On the issue of the national securities regulator, when a number of provinces raised similar concerns regarding the constitutionality of the proposal, her government did refer the matter to the Supreme Court. As I said at the time, that was the right approach. Why not do the same for this important matter of Senate reform so that we all may know once and for all if this government can proceed unilaterally with these constitutional changes?
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