WATCH ABOVE: Sen. Bob Runciman wants Ontario to spearhead Senate reform
Ontario Conservative Senator Bob Runciman says there is a window of opportunity to reform the Senate and Premier Kathleen Wynne should take the lead.
“I’m an Ontario senator; I’d love to see Ontario be nation builders again. They could take a key, leading role here if Ms. Wynne would do it instead of rhetoric and playing politics with the current federal government.”
Runciman wrote a letter to Wynne today imploring her to raise the subject with her fellow premiers at the upcoming Council of the Federation meeting in mid-July.
“We need seven provinces representing 50 per cent of the population, then they need to bring it to the federal government. The Justice Minister (Peter MacKay) has said he would look at that process favourably.” said Runciman.
“The provinces can take the bull by the horns here and let’s move forward, get into action and stop playing politics.”
Yesterday Global News polled every provincial premier and found a majority of them are willing to reopen the Constitution to reform the Senate.
Of those who responded, seven provinces are open to reform – including Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia –representing more than 50 per cent of the population. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland were also open to reforming the Senate.
Saskatchewan says it wants to abolish the Senate, while the government of Manitoba did not reply to a request for comment. Alberta says it will wait to see which party forms the next federal government.
READ MORE: Provinces willing to reopen Constitution to reform Senate
In response to Senator Runciman, Ontario’s Deputy Premier Deb Matthews said it’s up to the federal government to take the lead.
“The Supreme Court of Canada ruled last year that the federal government must work with provinces on any fundamental changes to the Senate. Ontario is ready to participate if the federal government decides to lead collaborative pan-Canadian discussions about Senate reform,” Matthews wrote in a letter addressed to Runciman.
In a landmark decision last year, the Supreme Court of Canada advised that even modest reforms – such as imposing term limits or a non-binding election process for choosing senators – would require a constitutional amendment approved by both the House of Commons and the Senate and at least seven provinces with 50 per cent of the country’s population.
Late Wednesday Justice Minister Peter MacKay said he’s never had a premier suggest that the federal government open the Constitution to deal with the Senate. But if provinces took the lead, the federal government would follow.
“Should the premiers decide to get together and embark on this venture of Senate reform then we would be happy to work with them,” MacKay said at a press conference.
Senator Runciman sees MacKay’s comments as a positive sign.
“If the media and the public start to put pressure on their provincial governments something can happen here, instead of all this rhetoric. And going on and saying we can’t do anything about it. We can do something about it,” said Runciman.
READ MORE: Despite Quebec opposition, Mulcair to press on with effort to abolish Senate
NDP Leader Tom Mulcair said Wednesday he’s not interested in reforming the Senate.
“We know that the Senate has to be abolished. We’re going to get rid of it. And that’s our goal, and we’re going to work hard and it requires unanimity of the provinces. We’ll start with a mandate from the Canadian voting public, and we’ll take that mandate across the country. I don’t shy away from hard work, ” said Mulcair.
Last year the Supreme Court said that abolition would require a Constitutional amendment approved by both houses of Parliament and all 10 provinces.
– with files from Mike Le Couteur, Jennifer Madigan and Leslie Whyte
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