December 10, 2004

A Constitutional Hypothetical

Steve Smith (email) at 01:52 PM

I'm on the phone with the CBC, arguing with Bert Brown and Link Byfield about Senate reform (I, Mr. Speaker, am an abolitionist), and a thought occurs to me: if the Prime Minister were to say to the provinces "I am putting the Constitution on the table in a very limited way, and am making a take it or leave it offer. I am offering to eliminate the federal powers of disallowance in exchange for the abolition of the Senate." What would be the reaction of the provinces?

Beyond that, in the event that the arrangement was accepted, how long would it take (assuming the appointment of abolitionists exclusively and the employment of that dirty trick to increase the Senate's size), how long would it take to produce a Senate that was conducive to passing such an arrangement?

Archive URL for this entry: http://www.pointsofinformation.ca/archives/individual/2004/12/10/steve_a_constitutional_hypothetical_328.html

TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.pointsofinformation.ca/poi-ping.cgi/299