Good news from the prairies

Saskatchewan has announced that it will follow Alberta's lead, and begin electing its senators. That's heartening to Westeners who have felt that the construction of Confederation -- effectively a unicameral system dominated by Ontario and Quebec -- was to our disadvantage.

It wouldn't shock me if B.C. made the same decision soon. B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell has been a Blue Liberal, and has shown an interest in democratic reform on the provincial level. Add to that the fact that half of B.C.'s six senate seats are now vacant -- and Stephen Harper has frozen appointments of non-elected senators -- and you've got a lot of positive reasons for B.C. to make it a Western trifecta.

Electing 18 Western senators out of 105 won't make a big difference, at first. But it will create an interesting dynamic in the Senate, where 18 politically legitimate legislators push up against a mass of patronage appointees. It will even look interesting, for the average age of elected senators will likely be 20 years younger than the appointees who currently occupy the upper chamber.

I believe that senate elections are only the first step to meaningful senate reform; the number of senators for each province will have to be adjusted, either in our constitution, or otherwise -- such as by leaving some provinces' excess seats permanently unfilled. But either way, the logjam must first be broken. Brad Wall's bold Sask Party is helping to do that.

Not everything in the world comes back to human rights commissions, but there is a connection here. Some months ago I mused about where legislative change might come, amongst Canada's 14 HRCs. Besides the federal Conservatives, I listed Wall's Sask Party. Not only are they conservatives with little patience for the politically correct madness of the HRCs, but Saskatchewan's HRC has been particularly abusive of its powers, especially in regards to freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

Perhaps that combination -- a bold new government with lots of political capital to spend, plus a particularly abnormal HRC -- means they'll beat the federal Conservatives to the punch, and be the first jurisdiction to rein these beasts in.

The fact that Saskatchewan's new Justice Minister, Don Morgan, was an enthusiastic subscriber to the Western Standard might just help, too!