There have been chances for parliament reform in Canada but they have failed
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By Don Braid • Calgary Herald
Published May 21, 2025
Last updated 2hours ago
4 minute read
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Alberta faced another wave of separatism many years ago.
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It was just as angry and far more organized than today’s drive for independence.
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But that movement shrivelled and vanished over the course of 10 months.
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It happened because national leaders did something real to address western grievances. They struck a constitutional deal that protected provincial resource ownership.
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Today, nothing like that is possible. Nobody advocates a Triple-E Senate or any other deep national reform that might bind Albertans and other furious westerners to the nation.
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So, we have the usual.
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The federal election produces three cabinet ministers from one Ontario city — Brampton, population 900,000.
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Alberta, with nearly five million people, elects two Liberals. Only one is invited to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s cabinet.
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Today’s federal government is just another Quebec-Ontario coalition, with a few hangers-on from East and West.
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As usual, the West has to settle for occasional concessions and policy wins that can disappear at whim.
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There is no plan, no energy, no hope for finally spreading national power more evenly where it matters most, in Canada’s Parliament.
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The bitterness has only one place to go. Many Albertans back separatism and a UCP government that doesn’t entirely disagree. Premier Danielle Smith is building a provincial firewall, brick by brick.
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Over many years I’ve seen real hope, true achievement, and then shuddering collapse of a national dream into the listless state we now inhabit.
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Canada could have fixed this for all time. But we blew it.
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One starting point was Feb. 17, 1982, when Albertan Gordon Kessler won a provincial byelection in Olds-Didsbury. He became the only avowed separatist to be elected outside Quebec, benefiting from the anger still boiling over the 1980 National Energy program.
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Two months later, on April 17, the premiers and then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau struck a constitutional deal after a tense round of talks in Ottawa.
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It included a clear statement of provincial ownership and control of resources.
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On Nov. 2, Alberta held a general election. Kessler, who switched ridings to run in Highwood, won only 17 per cent of the vote.
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His Western Canada Concept party polled 11 per cent provincewide. Separatism failed to compete in a single riding. Peter Lougheed’s Progressive Conservatives won 75 of 79 seats.
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Western separatism exited the scene, stage right.
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That happened because the constitutional agreement showed there could be progress. It was no solution to the power imbalance, but still a solid win that gave people hope.
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Of course, Quebec did not sign. That was a mortal flaw that had to be corrected. The effort brought the greatest opportunity for national fairness we’ve ever had.
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In those days, talk of a Triple-E Senate — equal, elected and effective — was pushed hard by Preston Manning’s new Reform party.
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An elected Senate with an equal number of members from each province (as with U.S. states) would give far more influence to the West and Atlantic Canada.
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Senators could form cross-region alliances on issues. In one branch of government, at least, the power monopoly of Ontario and Quebec would finally be checked.
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(The central provinces currently have 24 senators each. The four western provinces have 24 together. Five of Alberta’s six senators are Liberal appointees. The first to retire doesn’t leave until 2031.)
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Prime minister Brian Mulroney’s first round of talks ended with the Meech Lake accord. It called for modest Senate changes, notably the ability of provinces to name senators for appointment, rather than having them selected by the prime minister.
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Meech Lake failed to get approval of all provinces. That launched another round that ended with the Charlottetown accord.
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This time, the advances were profound. Each province would have six senators, all elected for fixed terms. The sudden infusion of genuine regional power would change the dynamic in Ottawa for all time.
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That’s how I saw it, anyway. Most Canadians disagreed. Charlottetown was defeated by a 54 per cent majority in a national referendum in 1992.
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That was a national tragedy. It happened because of mistrust.
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Many westerners didn’t like Quebec’s designation as a distinct society. Quebecers didn’t feel they got enough.
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Everybody seemed to believe everybody else got too much. So, everybody threw away everything.
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The leaders of that day really tried to make it work. My jaw dropped – I mean it literally – the day Quebec premier Robert Bourassa emerged from a meeting in Toronto and said he agreed Quebec should have the same number of senators as every other province.
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Quebec voters roundly disagreed. So did most other Canadians across the land.
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That was our one best chance to fix this country. Hopefully there will be another, someday.
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Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald
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