EDITORIAL PAGE — A truly regional Senate

There is an opportunity for Canada’s Constitution “fixers” to make the proposed new Senate truly representative of the country’s regions. But if they stop at simply giving provinces equal representation, they will have left out the largest and perhaps the most exploited region of all — our North.

There’s no need to rewrite the proposal to avoid that. If the three provinces that currently derive the most from their northern regions — Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia — each gave half of its Senate seats to northern ridings, it would have a constructive effect on Parliament without sacrificing any province’s leverage in the upper house.

Those Senators would still keep their provincial loyalties uppermost, but they would also be concerned with a region that transcends provincial boundaries. As a result, a northern region would add a new dynamic to the 125-year competition among the country’s regions. Central Canada, the West and the Maritimes would all have a direct interest in this region’s affairs. Three Senators from each of those three provinces — nine “resource” Senators — would not have sufficient power to dominate Senate deliberations. But when it comes to resource issues, they might elicit support from Senators sympathetic to their cause.

Thanks to Alberta’s insistence, the constitutional proposal gives the Senate the power of an absolute veto over natural resources taxation legislation. A Senate that provides the nation’s regions a true forum to voice their concerns must include a means for Canada’s North — the resource-rich area that urban voters seldom consider — to speak, too.

The principle of ensuring effective representation for those who might otherwise not receive it is already used to govern appointments to Canada’s Supreme Court.

A new Senate offers a chance for northern areas to gain some long-overdue political recognition. Champions of Canada’s northern regions who have seen the North shut out from the political decision-making process for so long need to take advantage of this window of opportunity. Supporters of resource industries should press their provincial governments for true regional representation in this proposed Senate.