It's taken 23 years of single minded devotion, but Bert Brown is at last within sight of his goal to be appointed to the Senate. Prime Minister Harper has announced his intention to put Brown forward to fill Alberta's latest vacancy.
Brown has been a champion of senate reform from the beginning, having sat on the Select Special Committee that first coined the term Triple-E Senate. Sheer dogged persistence has finally won the day.
This is not, however, a great victory for democracy. Alberta's last so-called senate selection race was held 3 years ago during a provincial general election that saw the lowest voter turnout in the province's history (44.7%). The senate option was not popular with the voting public. Fully 2 out of 3 voters in Edmonton and Calgary refused to mark a valid ballot for any of the candidates. Brown barely squeaked into first place with 312,041 votes. So, fewer than 1 in 6 eligible Albertans supported him, hardly a resounding vote of confidence.
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| Senate & Other Democratic Institutions |
Senator At Last
Posted By Senator McCoy Apr 19 2007 02:23PM
Comments
Posted On Apr 27 01:22PM
| crownviccanada |
I hate to say it but I think Dion is on the money. Bert Brown is not a great choice for Senator. Honestly, what has he ever done other than cozing up to right wingers on an easy issue. I don't think he's very substantive. Is he terrible? no, but running in an election against candidates who are all from the same party is a farce, not much of an accomplishment in my mind.
Posted On Apr 24 11:36AM
| DanMadge |
While the election of Bert Brown is a good step forward, I think there are more pressing problems in the Senate, such as regional representation (Alberta is still short changed).
Bast makes a good point, what difference does it make if Alberta is the only province electing senators? Ours may be accountable to us, but the body itself will remain unaccountable.
Posted On Apr 19 11:50PM
| Bast |
He is not my Senator-in-waiting as I declined to vote in the election, feeling I am Canadian first, Albertan second. And because the federal gov't - and ALL of the provinces - did not decide to elect Senators, I sided with them. As soon as we all decide in concert, I'm happy to cast my ballot. Until then, Bert Who?
