Senate

Let's face it, Alberta's 2004 Senator-in-Waiting election was a joke. Most people figured the winners would never actually be appointed to the Senate, and only the Progressive Conservatives and Alberta Alliance ran candidates. It's hard to take an election seriously when all the political parties come from the same side of the political spectrum. I couldn't blame Paul Martin for ignoring the election results.

(A little background in case you aren't familiar with this: In the Canadian senate, Senators are appointed by the Prime Minister; they aren't elected. But occasionally, Alberta elects "Senators in Waiting" to send a message to the Prime Minister that many people in our province want an elected Senate, and to say who we want our next Senators to be.)

Now Stephen Harper has said he'll appoint Bert Brown (the winner of our 2004 election) to the Senate. Stephane Dion criticized this move saying Harper may not have picked the best person for the job. I don't know much about Bert Brown and I don't remember if I voted for him, so I don't know if Dion is right or not. (Of course I'm such a good judge of character that I would never vote for anyone who wasn't the best candidate.) But ultimately I'm glad Harper is appointing Brown because this should lend some legitimacy to future Senate elections. If Harper is still Prime Minister when that time comes (and I'm not saying whether I would vote for Harper or not), maybe the Liberals and NDP will take this vote more seriously and run candidates. A serious, well-fought race with a wide spectrum of candidates would be harder for any Prime Minister to ignore.