Alberta Senate nominee election, 2004
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The 3rd Alberta Senate nominee election was held on November 22, 2004 in conjunction with the Alberta general election, 2004.
Alberta is the only Canadian province to elect nominees for appointment to the Senate of Canada. These elections are non-binding as the appointment of senators is the jurisdiction of the federal government. The elections, however, are held under the auspices of the Alberta Senatorial Selection Act of 1987, which was passed in response to a proposal under the Meech Lake Accord that would have required the federal government to appoint senators from lists provided by provincial governments.
After the failure of the Meech Lake and subsequent Charlottetown Accords, the federal government continued its traditional practice of appointing senators without consulting the provinces. In 1998, the federal government of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien filled two vacancies in Alberta before an election could be held. The pro-Senate reform government of Ralph Klein amended the act in 1998 to hold elections for Senate nominees in advance of vacancies.
The amended Senatorial Selection Act looks six years ahead to see how many Alberta vacancies will exist in the Senate due to the mandatory retirement of senators at the age of 75. From 1998 onward, Senate nominees are elected for six year terms as a protest to push for senate reform. Whenever a vacancy arises in the senate from Alberta, the Albertan government formally requests that the Prime Minister appoint the Albertan nominees.
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[edit] Controversy
Although Senate reform is very popular in Western Canada, where some provinces are under-represented in the House of Commons, Alberta's Senate elections are controversial.
Although Stan Waters, elected in the first Senate election, was appointed to the Senate by then-Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in 1990, subsequently elected Senate nominees have not been appointed. Moreover, former Prime Minister Paul Martin said he would not recommend for appointment any nominees elected in this fashion because he does not support "piecemeal" Senate reform. Detractors of the Senate nominee election argue that it is a waste of time and money without federal co-operation, although proponents blame federal arrogance for causing the Senate elections to seem useless and argue that Alberta should be given credit for embarrassing the Prime Minister and refusing to allow the issue of Senate reform to be relegated to the back-burner. The cost of the election is estimated at $3 million by the Albertan government.
The Alberta Liberal Party refused to run any candidates because that would have contradicted the policy of its federal counterpart. The Liberals did run a candidate in the 1989 Senatorial election when an appointment was guaranteed. The Alberta New Democrats have never supported or contested Senate elections and refused to run candidates in this election - the federal NDP currently calls for the Senate's complete abolition. The election was thus left to be contested exclusively by the right-of-centre Alberta Progressive Conservatives, Alberta Alliance and Social Credit parties, and independents. After much pressure from the Liberal and NDP camps (who did not want their supporters to feel compelled to vote for a right-of-centre candidate), polling officers were instructed to advise voters on election day that they did not have to vote in the Senate election.
The candidate nominated by Social Credit did not obtain the 1500 signatures required to get on the ballot, and the party therefore was not represented in the election.
Betty Unger, Bert Brown and Cliff Breitkreuz, nominated by the Alberta Progressive Conservatives, and Link Byfield, an independent, won the election. None have been appointed to the Senate.
Although current Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper supports elected Senators, no vacancies have occurred in Alberta's allocation of Senate seats since then-Prime Minister Martin's most recent appointments. Martin was further accused of deliberately making youthful appointments for Alberta to ensure that none of the current six Senators will reach the mandatory retirement age until Tommy Banks (who was appointed by Chretien) turns 75 in 2011. All six incumbents have rejected calls to resign in order to make room for an "elected" appointment. The current Prime Minister still has the option of directly advising the Queen of Canada to make additional appointments for Senators from Alberta, although that has only been done once before (in 1990 by then-Prime Minister Mulroney who used this prerogative to ensure the passage of the Goods and Services Tax). However, such a move would also require the appointment of an equal number of additional Senators for Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime Provinces.
[edit] Candidates and results
As of the date of the election, there were three vacant Alberta seats in the Senate of Canada and another will become vacant within six years. Voters could vote for up to four candidates, though many candidates encouraged their supporters to vote for only one, a legal option, to prevent the vote totals of their competitors from rising.
Many Liberal and NDP supporters were observed discarding their Senate nominee ballots, while the proportion of spoiled ballots was higher in ridings and polls where the Liberals and NDP did well in the concurrent Legislature election.
| Candidate | Party | Votes # | Votes % | "Elected" | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Betty Unger | Progressive Conservative | 308,014 | 14.3% | X | |
| Bert Brown | Progressive Conservative | 307,444 | 14.3% | X | |
| Cliff Breitkreuz | Progressive Conservative | 238,406 | 11.1% | X | |
| Link Byfield | Independent | 236,382 | 11.0% | X | |
| Jim Silye | Progressive Conservative | 215,242 | 10.0% | ||
| David Usherwood | Progressive Conservative | 190,355 | 8.9% | ||
| Michael Roth | Alberta Alliance | 173,948 | 8.1% | ||
| Vance Gough | Alberta Alliance | 165,705 | 7.7% | ||
| Tom Sindlinger | Independent | 159,474 | 7.4% | ||
| Gary Horan | Alberta Alliance | 154,655 | 7.2% |
Note:
- For results by district please see districts listed in the Alberta general election, 2004.
[edit] Past Senate elections
Alberta Senate nominee election, 1989
- Stan Waters won the one nomination up for election, defeating two other candidates. He was appointed to the Senate on the recommendation of then-Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in 1990.
Alberta Senate nominee election, 1998
- Ted Morton and Bert Brown are elected. Neither was appointed to the Senate.
