Senate reform sucker-punched

Political conservatives meeting in Calgary over the weekend, at a conference entitled "Calgary Congress -- Restoring Responsible Government," defeated a resolution calling for a Triple-E senate.

It's encouraging to see that even Western conservatives are beginning to recognize what a dumb idea this is, particularly the "equal" part. Electing equal provincial representation to the Senate for Prince Edward Island and Ontario would in effect be giving each Prince Edward Islander 85 votes for each Ontarian's one, a profoundly undemocratic reform. Democracy is, after all, political equality, no more, no less, and a Triple-E Senate would gravely undermine political equality.

Quite aside from the philosophical objection, there is the practical problem. Can one seriously imagine Ontarians allowing their democratic rights to be so gravely diluted? Or Albertans, for that matter? Even they would be offering Prince Edward Islanders 22 votes for each one of theirs.

An effective Senate? Of course. An elected Senate? Maybe, if it's worth keeping at all. But an equal Senate? Dumb idea. The conference participants were quite right to give this mole a good whack in the city where it first raised its head.