Clark ‘not averse’ to scrapping Senate if NDP forms government

OTTAWA — Christy Clark is among premiers who won’t object to the federal NDP’s plan to abolish the Senate if the party forms government after the October election.

But New Democrat leader Tom Mulcair, whose ascent in the polls is drawing considerable attention to the party’s various promises, faces major obstacles and skepticism as he vows to vanquish the scandalplagued upper chamber.

“She’s not averse to abolition,” said Clark spokesman Ben Chin. “Her position has basically been fix it or fold it, but don’t be distracted by it.”

While the Manitoba and Saskatchewan premiers support abolition, other provincial leaders have expressed ambivalence and the premiers of Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia, outright opposition.

That has led many commentators to argue that abolition is highly unlikely even if Mulcair becomes prime minister.

Industry Minister James Moore, B.C.’s senior representative in the federal cabinet, said the NDP is misleading Canadians.

“It’s completely disingenuous and dishonest of them to go to Canadians and say an NDP government will abolish the Senate. They can’t,” Moore told The Vancouver Sun.

“The Supreme Court has said so and Tom Mulcair’s provincial party (the governing Quebec Liberals), of which he was a cabinet minister, is against it.”

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in 2014 that abolition would require the support of the federal Parliament and all 10 provincial legislatures.

B.C. New Democrat MP Peter Julian, his party’s House leader and a frequent commentator on Senate issues, said a freshly elected NDP government would have a strong mandate to urge premiers to accept abolition.

He said Mulcair would end the Harper government’s opposition to first ministers’ conferences, and would start with a gathering to announce higher health care transfers.

That would create a “new dynamic” in federal-provincial relations which could, combined with the NDP’s electoral mandate and polls indicating widespread hostility to the Senate across Canada, help advance the abolition file.

University of B.C. political scientist Richard Johnston said it’s wise for the NDP to avoid committing to a referendum, since that kind of forcing move could harm overall federal-provincial relations.

“Her position has basically been fix it or fold it, but don’t be distracted by it.

BEN CHIN SPOKESMAN FOR CHRISTY CLARK