Resuscitating Alberta's Senatorial Elections

Abstract

In 2019, the provincial government of Alberta enacted legislation that resuscitated senatorial elections. Before previous legislation had lapsed in 2015, four were held. This article argues that the resuscitation of constitutionally dubious and costly elections ignores the fact that the prime minister, who advises the governor general on senate appointments, can disregard electoral results and appoint, as long as they meet the requirements set out in the Constitution Act, 1867, whomever he wants. Resuscitation ignores the fact that in 2014 the Supreme Court of Canada described an unelected senate is a fundamental feature of the Canadian parliament and held that substantive changes to it would require, under Part V of the Constitution Act, 1982, political consensus among the federal government and a majority of the provinces. Resuscitation ignores the fact that in three of the four senatorial elections previously held, voter turnout was below 50 per cent.