Moving Towards Elected Senate - One Province At A Time

While the Liberal MPs are dragging their feet on the Senate reform bills and while the Liberal Senators are pushing forward with legislation that would compel the Prime Minister to fill Senate vacancies by appointment, the provinces are taking the matter into their own hands.

REGINA -- The Saskatchewan government plans to start electing senators, making it the second Canadian province after Alberta to move to Senate elections.

Justice Minister Don Morgan said the Saskatchewan Party government intends to introduce the legislation during the fall sitting.

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If the legislation is adopted during the fall sitting - it will be just in time for the upcoming retirement of the Conservative Senator Leonard J. Gustafson. The Senate nominee elected in the subsequent vote will then become the third elected Senator to be summoned to the Red Chamber - after Stan Waters and Bert Brown.

Let this be an example to other provinces, especially to Nova Scotia and BC, that both have 3 vacant seats. So far Prime Minister Stephen Harper has made it clear that he's not going to appoint any more unelected Senators. With 14 Senate seats vacant and with 15 more to become vacant by the end of next year, it's time for the provinces to start electing their Senators. Unless they are comfortable with having much lesser share of seats in the Upper Chamber.