Within a few years, Saskatchewan may become the second province to effectively elect a senator.
In the days before Christmas, journalist and Wadena, Sask., daughter Pamela Wallin was appointed as Saskatchewan’s newest senator, filling a seat vacated in November by farmer Len Gustafson.
Wallin worked for CBC, The Toronto Star and CTV before becoming a diplomat in New York and serving last year on a panel advising the government on the future of the Afghanistan mission.
In accepting the appointment, Wallin promised that if the provincial government agrees to hold an election, she would resign and contest the seat. By law, the 55-year-old can sit in the senate for almost 20 years.
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Brad Wall’s Saskatchewan Party government has proposed legislation that would see a province-wide vote for the next senator. The proposal follows long-standing Alberta legislation that saw farmer and senate reform advocate Bert Brown win a province-wide vote and be appointed by prime minister Stephen Harper.
Wallin’s appointment Dec. 22 was one of 18 announced by Harper, who has made opposition to an unelected senate a key plank in his lifelong political platform. It meant he had appointed few senators during his almost three years in government, vowing to wait until candidates were elected.
But with few provinces agreeing to hold senate elections and the 105-seat chamber boasting 18 vacancies, Harper said he had to act to make the senate functional.
