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May 23, 2008 05:53 PM
Joan Bryden
THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA–Quebec is prepared to go to court if necessary to stop Prime
Minister Stephen Harper's plans to reform Canada's unelected Senate,
the province's intergovernmental affairs minister says.

Benoit Pelletier issued the warning Friday just as support appears to
be building among western provinces to turn the Senate into an elected
chamber.

"I would say that the main goal for us as for now is to stop Bill
C-20," Pelletier told The Canadian Press.

C-20, currently under review by a House of Commons committee, would
create a process for electing senators. The federal government, backed
by some of the country's foremost constitutional experts, maintains
the bill needs only the approval of Parliament to become law.

But Quebec, backed by constitutional experts of its own and several
other provinces, maintains such a significant change to one of the
country's primary political institutions can only be done with a
formal constitutional amendment approved by at least seven provinces
representing 50 per cent of the population.

Pelletier said the province still hopes to persuade Harper to refer
the matter to the Supreme Court of Canada, something the prime
minister has so far refused to do. If Harper refuses to budge,
Pelletier said the Quebec government is considering taking matters
into its own hands, asking the province's court of appeal to rule on
the issue.

"If ever the federal government goes ahead with its intentions then we
will very closely study the possibility to go before the tribunals
ourselves on that question," he said in an interview.

"We are analysing at this moment the possibility to go ourselves
before the tribunals."

Pelletier noted that at least three other provinces – Ontario, New
Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador – agree with Quebec's
contention that the federal government is proceeding in an
unconstitutional manner.

While there have been no formal discussions with other provinces yet,
he said he expects Quebec would have strong allies should it decide to
take the matter to court.

In Ontario, an official said the government continues to believe that
"the changes being introduced by the feds require the consent of the
provinces."

Moreover, the official said Premier Dalton McGuinty remains
uninterested in Senate reform, preferring to focus on "helping
families and businesses through the challenges caused by the slowing
U.S. economy."

But if the prime minister is determined to push ahead with Senate
reform, the official said, McGuinty would prefer to abolish the
chamber altogether.

The increasingly adamant resistance to an elected Senate in the
country's two largest provinces counterbalances some modest signs of
progress in western Canada.

This week, Saskatchewan signalled that it will follow Alberta in
setting up a process to elect senators. Manitoba announced it plans to
launch provincewide consultations this spring on the best way to elect
senators. And British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell signalled he's
prepared to support Harper's Senate election bill, provided there's no
cost to the province.

Since taking power two years ago, Harper has made only two Senate
appointments – Michael Fortier to boost his cabinet representation
from Quebec and Bert Brown, who won a Senate election in Alberta. In
an apparent bid to pressure the provinces into supporting C-20, Harper
has refused to appoint unelected senators, letting 14 vacancies in the
105-seat chamber go unfilled.

Pelletier said the Quebec government might also consider going to
court to force Harper to fill vacant Senate seats, should the vacancy
rate eventually make it impossible for the upper house to fulfil its
role as the chamber of sober second thought.

"If the seats in the Senate are not filled by new members, eventually
it will seriously affect the credibility of that institution and the
authority of that institution in our system. So it's a way to do
indirectly what in our view cannot be done directly," he said.

For now, however, Quebec's priority is to derail the Senate election
bill. Pelletier said the depth of his province's concern is reflected
in the fact that he has already appeared before one parliamentary
committee to press for a Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality
of the bill and made several written submissions.

And he intends to make his case one more time before the Commons
committee early next month.

Pelletier said the Senate, intended to represent the provinces in
counter-weight to representation by population in the House of
Commons, was "part of the essential conditions presiding (over) the
birth of Canada."

As a result, he said the chamber can't be significantly changed
without the approval of the provinces.

Quite apart from the process by which Harper is proceeding, Pelletier
said Quebec does not support the substance of C-20. Quebec believes
senators should be chosen by provincial governments, turning the
Senate into a so-called House of the Provinces.

http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/429390