Reform Impossible, Abolition Necessary

Jeremy Harrison, MLA and Government House Leader in the government of Saskatchewan and former Conservative MP, explains how the Saskatchewan government came to its abolition position.

 In Saskatchewan we know what to do with machinery that’s broken down and impossible to repair. In the Aug. 2 edition of the National Post, Senator Bob Runciman wondered why Saskatchewan advocates abolishing the Senate and why my party hasn’t called senatorial elections as we’d originally hoped. The answer is simple: the Senate is too broken to serve Canadians and it’s impossible to fix. Holding elections for a broken Senate is a waste of money, as the Upper Chamber itself has become.

People are frustrated with the Senate. Our government has heard that frustration and recently put the question to a vote of our Saskatchewan Party members. The members voted to change our party’s position from reforming the institution to abolishing it. The majority was 86%. We believe this sentiment to be widely shared among the people of this province.

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