Alberta Senate nominee elections
Encyclopedia
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
is the only Canadian province to elect nominees for appointment to the Senate of Canada
Canadian Senate
The Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...
in a process known as an Alberta Senate nominee election. These elections are non-binding as the appointment of senators is the jurisdiction of the federal government. The elections, however, are held under the auspices of the Alberta Senatorial Selection Act of 1987, which was passed in response to a proposal under the Meech Lake Accord
Meech Lake Accord
The Meech Lake Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and ten provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the government of the Province of Quebec to endorse the 1982 Canadian Constitution and increase...
that would have required the federal government to appoint senators from lists provided by provincial governments.
After the failure of the Meech Lake and subsequent Charlottetown Accord
Charlottetown Accord
The Charlottetown Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada, proposed by the Canadian federal and provincial governments in 1992. It was submitted to a public referendum on October 26 of that year, and was defeated.-Background:...
s, the federal government continued its traditional practice of appointing senators without consulting the provinces. In 1998, the federal government of Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
filled two vacancies in Alberta before an election could be held. The pro-Senate reform government of Ralph Klein amended the act in 1998 to hold elections for Senate nominees in advance of vacancies.
The amended Senatorial Selection Act looks six years ahead to see how many Alberta vacancies will exist in the Senate due to the mandatory retirement of senators at the age of 75. From 1998 onward, Senate nominees are elected for six year terms as a protest to push for senate reform. Whenever a vacancy arises in the senate from Alberta, the Albertan government formally requests that the Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
advise the Governor General
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
to appoint the Albertan nominees.
In May 2008, the government of Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
announced plans to hold similar elections.
Controversy
Senate reform is popular in western CanadaWestern Canada
Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.- Provinces :...
, where some provinces are under-represented, but in the House of Commons, Alberta's Senate elections are controversial.
Although Stan Waters, elected in the first Senate election
Alberta Senate nominee election, 1989
The 1st Alberta Senate nominee election was held on October 16, 1989 in Alberta, Canada. It was held in conjunction with Alberta municipal elections under the Local Authorities Election Act., and resulted in the first Canadian Senator appointed following a popular election.The vote was held along...
of 1989, was appointed to the Senate by then-Governor General
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
Ray Hnatyshyn
Ray Hnatyshyn
Ramon John Hnatyshyn , commonly known as Ray Hnatyshyn, was a Canadian politician and statesman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 24th since Canadian Confederation....
, on the advice of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
, in 1990, subsequently elected Senate nominees have not been appointed. Moreover, former Prime Minister Paul Martin
Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC , also known as Paul Martin, Jr. is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
said he would not recommend for appointment any nominees elected in this fashion because he does not support "piecemeal" Senate reform. Detractors of the Senate nominee election argue that it is a waste of time and money without federal co-operation, although proponents blame federal arrogance for causing the Senate elections to seem useless and argue that Alberta should be given credit for embarrassing the prime minister and refusing to allow the issue of Senate reform to be relegated to the back-burner. The cost of the election is estimated at $3 million by the Albertan government.
Although the Alberta Liberal Party
Alberta Liberal Party
The Alberta Liberal Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Originally founded in 1905, when the province was created, it was the dominant political party until 1921 when it was defeated. It has never been in government since that time...
did run a candidate in the 1989 Senatorial election when an appointment was guaranteed, it has since refused to run any candidates in the 1998 and 2004 elections because that would have contradicted the policy of its federal counterpart
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
. The Alberta New Democrats have never supported or contested Senate elections and refused to run candidates in this election - the federal NDP
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
currently calls for the Senate's complete abolition.
In 2004, Bert Brown
Bert Brown
For the English footballer Bert Brown, see Sailor BrownBert Brown is a Canadian Senator and retired farmer and development consultant currently residing in Balzac, Alberta.-Early life:...
, Betty Unger
Betty Unger
Betty E. Unger is a Canadian politician and a Progressive Conservative Senator in waiting from Alberta, Canada. Unger owned and operated a successful Alberta nursing services company for many years....
and Cliff Breitkreuz
Cliff Breitkreuz
Clifford N. Breitkreuz . He was raised on a farm and lived there until he left to earn his university degrees . In 1967 he returned to farming, and started teaching at Onoway Junior/Senior High School not long after that...
, nominated by the Progressive Conservatives
Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta
The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta is a provincial centre-right party in the Canadian province of Alberta...
, and Link Byfield
Link Byfield
-Columnist and Writer:Byfield was editor and publisher for the now defunct Alberta Report magazine for 18 years. He is the son of conservative columnist Ted Byfield...
, an independent, won the election. The federal Liberal government then in office vowed to ignore the results.
Then-prime minister Paul Martin
Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC , also known as Paul Martin, Jr. is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
has been accused of deliberately advising the Governor General to make youthful appointments for Alberta to ensure that none of the six Senators he appointed will reach the mandatory retirement age
Mandatory retirement age
Mandatory retirement is the age at which persons who hold certain jobs or offices are required by industry custom or by law to leave their employment, or retire. Typically, mandatory retirement is justified by the argument that certain occupations are either too dangerous or require high levels of...
until Tommy Banks
Tommy Banks
Thomas Benjamin "Tommy" Banks, OC, AOE is a Canadian pianist, conductor, arranger, composer, television personality and Senator....
(who was appointed under direction of Chrétien) turns 75 in 2011. All six incumbents initially rejected calls to resign in order to make room for an "elected" appointment. The current prime minister still has the option of directly advising the monarch
Monarchy in Canada
The monarchy of Canada is the core of both Canada's federalism and its Westminster-style parliamentary democracy, being the foundation of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Canadian government and each provincial government...
to make additional appointments for Senators from Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, although that has only been done once before (in 1990 by then-Prime Minister Mulroney who used this prerogative to ensure the passage of the Goods and Services Tax
Goods and Services Tax (Canada)
The Goods and Services Tax is a multi-level value added tax introduced in Canada on January 1, 1991, by then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and his finance minister Michael Wilson. The GST replaced a hidden 13.5% Manufacturers' Sales Tax ; Mulroney claimed the GST was implemented because the MST...
). Such a move would also require the appointment of an equal number of additional Senators for Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime Provinces (although there would be nothing to stop the prime minister from balancing out the appointments by, say, ensuring that all of the "unelected" appointments were days away from turning 75).
Current Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...
supports elected Senators. On April 17, 2007 veteran Liberal Senator Dan Hays announced he would retire from the Senate by the end of June. The next day, Harper announced that Bert Brown would fill Hays' seat.
Elections
- Alberta Senate nominee election, 1989Alberta Senate nominee election, 1989The 1st Alberta Senate nominee election was held on October 16, 1989 in Alberta, Canada. It was held in conjunction with Alberta municipal elections under the Local Authorities Election Act., and resulted in the first Canadian Senator appointed following a popular election.The vote was held along...
- Alberta Senate nominee election, 1998Alberta Senate nominee election, 1998The 2nd Alberta Senate nominee election was held in Alberta, Canada, on October 19, 1998 in conjunction with the Alberta Municipal Elections. It was held to elect Alberta's candidates for appointment to the Canadian Senate....
- Alberta Senate nominee election, 2004Alberta Senate nominee election, 2004The 3rd Alberta Senate nominee election was held on November 22, 2004 in conjunction with the Alberta general election, 2004. Alberta is the only Canadian province to elect nominees for the Senate of Canada.-Background:...