The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi to publicly state whether he supports abolishing the Senate ahead of Alberta's Oct. 19 referendum.Albertans will vote on 10 referendum questions, including a constitutional question asking whether the province should work with other willing provinces to amend the Constitution to abolish the unelected federal Senate.“Albertans are being asked a referendum question about whether to abolish the federal Senate, but we haven’t heard from Nenshi on this,” said CTF Alberta director Kris Sims.“We have heard from federal NDP Leader Avi Lewis that the Senate should be abolished, but nothing from Nenshi.”The CTF said it searched Alberta NDP news releases and Nenshi's X account but found no statement from him addressing the Senate referendum question. The organization said it has also contacted Nenshi's team for its position but has not received a response.The federal NDP has historically supported abolishing the Senate, a position also advocated by former federal leader Jack Layton.The CTF pointed to the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation's 1933 Regina Manifesto, which called for constitutional changes to abolish the Senate. The CCF later became part of the federal NDP..Sims also cited Reform Party founder Preston Manning's support for a “yes” vote on the Senate question.“If we have Reform Party founder Preston Manning saying it’s time for Albertans to send a strong message to Ottawa to abolish the Senate and Avi Lewis agrees, it’s time for Nenshi to state the obvious and confirm he’s in favour of scrapping the Senate,” said Sims.“The Senate costs too much money, it’s undemocratic and all attempts to fix it have failed, so it’s time to abolish it.”Elections Alberta says the Senate question is one of four constitutional questions on the ballot and is not binding.Referendum election day is Oct. 19, with advance voting scheduled for Oct. 13 to 17.
