Newly declassified cabinet records show former prime minister Brian Mulroney rejected abolishing the Senate as an acceptable option while his government negotiated constitutional reforms more than three decades ago.The confidential records from an Aug. 12, 1992 cabinet meeting were obtained through Access to Information ahead of Alberta's Oct. 19 referendum, which will ask voters whether the province should work with other governments to amend the Constitution to abolish the unelected Senate. Elections Alberta confirms the question is one of 10 on the ballot.“We know the status quo is unacceptable and that abolition is not an acceptable political option,” Mulroney told cabinet, according to the records.Blacklock's Reporter said the meeting took place two months before Canadians voted on the Charlottetown Accord, a package of constitutional reforms that included major changes to the Senate.Mulroney cautioned ministers against publicly staking out firm positions while negotiations continued.“Given all the options that are at play, I think it is very important that we all refrain from taking strong positions in public over the next few days,” he said.Mulroney told cabinet he favoured a system in which provinces would submit lists of candidates to fill Senate vacancies.“The federal government would undertake to fill vacancies from lists of candidates submitted by a province or elected within the province,” he said.Mulroney suggested the lists could be reviewed by provincial legislatures and said provincial governments would decide how nominees were selected.The proposal would have served as an interim measure until 1997 or another agreed-upon date.Mulroney was also concerned about how Senate reform would affect regional representation, including Quebec's position in the upper chamber.One option discussed would have given Canada's four largest provinces 20 Senate seats each. Another would have increased representation for the six smallest provinces to 10 seats each.“Throughout all our discussions on the Senate, it has become clear to me that what provinces fear most is the permanence of such major Senate reform,” Mulroney told cabinet.He proposed another interim arrangement that would have maintained Ontario and Quebec at 24 seats each and Prince Edward Island at four while increasing every other province to 10 seats.That would have increased representation for British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland..Mulroney calculated the West's share of Senate seats would have increased from 23.1% to 31.7%, compared with a combined 38% for Ontario and Quebec.The final Charlottetown Accord proposed an elected Senate with equal provincial representation and reduced powers. In a September 1992 speech to the Commons, Mulroney said an “equal, elected and effective” Senate responded to concerns particularly prevalent in Western Canada and Alberta.The accord also proposed guaranteeing Quebec at least 25% of the seats in the House of Commons.Canadians rejected the constitutional package in the Oct. 26, 1992 referendum. The accord had been endorsed by the federal government, all 10 provincial governments and the major federal parties.Senate reform will return to an Alberta ballot Oct. 19.The referendum asks: “Do you support the Government of Alberta working with the governments of other willing provinces to amend the Canadian Constitution to abolish the unelected federal Senate?”The referendum itself cannot abolish the Senate. The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled Senate abolition requires a constitutional amendment under the unanimity procedure, requiring agreement from Parliament and all 10 provinces.
