Put Elected Senate On The Ballot

Jack Layton is proposing a referendum to abolish unelected Senate and it seems like Stephen Harper is inclining to support his proposal. If so - it would make sense to put elected Senate on the very same ballot, so voters could have a little more to choose from than just keeping the Senate as it is or getting rid of it altogether.

After all - if we are to spend tens of millions on a referendum, why can't we put a couple more questions on the same ballot? The first question, just as Jack Layton wants, would be whether or not the Senate should be abolished. A second question should ask whether or not Senators should be elected directly by voters - provided the Senate is not abolished. We could also use the opportunity to get the voters' input on whether or not there should be equal number Senators for each province - which is the key question to the Senate reform.

Let's put all those options on the ballot and let's see which one of them ends up getting the support of over 50% of Canadians from at least 7 provinces. Personally, I believe that as long as we have diverse regions that differ in size and population, the Upper Chamber, where regions are represented equally is still necessary. So I would be glad to join the "no" campaign on the abolition question, and the "yes" campaign on elected Senators as well as on the equal number of Senators per province.