Filling Senate seats isn’t hard

Re: Make The Provinces Pick, Ted Morton, April 30. The last thing the Prime Minister Stephen Harper should do is turn over Senate appointments to the provinces as Ted Morton advocates. Despite Morton’s wishful thinking, having the provinces appoint senators changes nothing. The Senate will still be a haven for political patronage, only now appointed, in many cases, by the prime ministers political opponents such as Premier Kathleen Wynne in Ontario.

The prime minister needs to embrace the status quo on Senate appointments and quickly fill the 20 vacancies in the Senate, along with some long overdue internal Senate reforms.

First tighten up the expense policies and conflict-of-interest guidelines by adopting those used by the House of Commons.

Secondly, boost the salary of senators to the entry-level pay of an MP to help compensate them for the loss of the various corporate directorships or other outside paying interests.

Finally, fill seven or eight of the 20 vacancies with loyal conservative supporters and three or four vacancies with retired or defeated Liberals MPs. Reserve the remaining vacancies for some distinguished Canadians or retired union leaders and social activists to help provide a non-partisan flavour. The Senate appointment process isn’t difficult, it just has to be done smartly.

Curt Shalapata, Oshawa, Ont. The prime minister enjoys a near monopoly on all levers power. The Senate is supposed to be a chamber of “sober second thought.” But, with the prime minister appointing his cronies as senators, the Senate, in practice, has become a chamber of subordinate thought.

As such, allowing the provinces to choose senators will allow us to get senators from across the political spectrum and free them from any personal loyalty to the prime minister. Senators will be able to provide some checks and balances and help prevent against the tyranny of the majority. This will not face any opposition from the provinces, as it will empower them. This way, we will have effective Senate reform without opening up the Constitution.

Mahmood Elahi, Ottawa.