Veto Vetoed

One of the difficulties in doing anything about the Senate is the 3 provinces (er... "regions") have veto power on any constitutional change. Ontario and Quebec have always been considered regions for things such as distribution of Senate seats. British Columbia is included as part of the Western region, along with the three prairie provinces. A 1996 law made BC its own region, separate from the others in that region, with regards to constitutional change, giving BC veto power in addition to, Ontario and Quebec (of course, due to the 7/50 rule and the sheer size of Ontario and Quebec, they have effective veto power anyway). Harper, however, believes that he can sidestep BC's veto as it pertains to abolishing the Senate.

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in his bid to reform or abolish the Senate, appears to be sidestepping a 1996 law that gave B.C. and other Canadian regions vetoes over constitutional change.

The B.C. veto was portrayed by some as a recognition of the province’s emerging clout and self-confidence.

But the Harper government, in its submission to the Supreme Court of Canada last week, didn’t cite the 1996 law and argued the Senate can be abolished by using the 1982 constitutional formula — which doesn’t explicitly give any province a veto.

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