There’s been mixed reaction from the provinces and the opposition leaders to Prime Minister Harper’s announcement of a moratorium on Senate appointments.
Harper made the announcement Friday in Regina, but he hasn’t appointed anyone to the scandal plagued upper chamber since 2013.
Harper told reporters the moratorium will save taxpayers’ money and “force” the provinces to come up with a plan to reform or abolish the Senate.
There are currently 22 vacant seats in the 105 seat Senate.
READ MORE: Why now? A look at the reasons behind Harper’s call for a moratorium on the Senate
What the opposition is saying
N-D-P leader Tom Mulcair says even though his party doesn’t have any seats in the Senate, he won’t make any appointments to the upper chamber if he becomes prime minister.
He made the remarks in Waterloo, Ontario yesterday, shortly before Prime Minister Harper announced his own moratorium on Senate appointments.
Mulcair says he’ll seek a mandate in the coming election from Canadians to abolish the Senate because they deserve better.
READ MORE: NDP would not have representation in Senate while pushing for abolition
What the Liberals are saying
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has dismissed Harper’s moratorium announcement as nothing more than an attempt to deflect attention from what he calls the Tories’ abysmal economic record.
He also notes that Harper promised during the 2006 election campaign not to appoint any unelected senators, and then went on to appoint 59 of them.
Trudeau has kicked senators out of the Liberal caucus and promised to create a blue chip advisory body to recommend non-partisan Senate nominees in future.
But is it legal?
Prime Minister Harper may hope that a moratorium on appointing new Senators will take the sting out of attacks on his record on the issue, but the matter is unlikely to go away.
Vancouver lawyer Aniz Alani has already gone to court seeking a declaration that Harper has a constitutional duty to fill Senate vacancies within a reasonable time.
And constitutional experts have warned that one or more provinces could also take Harper to court over his failure to ensure they have the Senate representation to which they are constitutionally entitled to.
The Supreme Court of Canada has made it clear that letting Senate vacancies pile up cannot continue indefinitely.
It ruled last year that the Senate can’t be abolished indirectly by letting its numbers drop to zero.
However, Harper said yesterday that the Constitution gives the prime minister “the authority to appoint or not appoint” senators.
READ MORE: Is Harper’s plan for the Senate constitutional?
What about the provinces?
The premiers remain split on how to deal with the Senate and Prime Minister Harper’s moratorium on filling vacant seats hasn’t brought them together.
The provinces must approve any proposal to reform or abolish the Senate and Saskatchewan’s Brad Wall and Manitoba’s Greg Selinger favour the latter option.
But Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne says Harper’s announcement distracts from urgent priorities like infrastructure investments and retirement security.
Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil says he’s prepared to talk about Senate reforms, but says any changes must insure that smaller provinces have the same voice in the upper chamber that they have now.
WATCH: Reviewing alternative options for the Senate’s future
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