Western Standard - Why abolishing the Senate isn't the simple answer

00:00:00.000 I mean, would no Senate be better than the current Senate?

00:00:02.420 Yes, it would.

00:00:03.280 The current Senate is grossly unfair.

00:00:06.400 It's appointed by the prime minister.

00:00:08.120 So most of the time it's just appointed by liberals without any real democratic mandate from Alberta.

00:00:12.640 So even Alberta senators, quote unquote, are not, they're not even appointed by someone who has the backing of Alberta in most cases.

00:00:23.020 And the numbers in the Senate are crazy.

00:00:25.900 Roughly a quarter of the seats are for Ontario.

00:00:28.120 Roughly a quarter are for Quebec.

00:00:31.240 And, you know, the territories, I think, get one each or something.

00:00:36.220 And then things get completely screwy.

00:00:39.860 Alberta, B.C., Saskatchewan, I think we get six each.

00:00:45.380 Alberta alone has roughly three times the population of all four Atlantic provinces.

00:00:51.940 Roughly three times the population of all four of the Atlantic provinces.

00:00:55.900 Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick. New Brunswick alone

00:01:01.960 has nearly twice the senators of just Alberta. New Brunswick alone has nearly twice the senators

00:01:12.220 of Alberta, but Alberta has three times the population of all four of those provinces,

00:01:18.400 and that's set in stone for all time. It doesn't change based on populations of a province going

00:01:23.880 up or down. It's just set in stone for all time. So the current Senate is practically medieval

00:01:31.080 in the way it's designed. It wildly discriminates against the Western provinces.

Western Standard - February 28, 2026