Stephen Harper attempted to institute an old Reformatory/Western Alien dream by legislating some sort of hackish “consultative election” nonsense for appointments to the Senate. This was recently smacked down by the Supreme Court.

And rightly so. Anyone who was even half-aware during the Meech-and-Charlottetown era would know that any federal-legislative attempt at substantial Senate reform is deeply unfair vis-à-vis the ground rules that we have for these things in Canada: that is, a constitutional amendment, with defined levels of acceptance by provincial legislatures. You cannot reopen the Constitution without reopening the Constitution.

That, of course, is the stumbling block towards any kind of Senate reform. Absolutely ANY attempt at changing federal institutions through Constitutional reform must inevitably permit you-know-who to submit the usual laundry list of demands. And if you think about it for a little moment, the whole Triple-E Senate demand from Western Alien crowd (still never satisfied despite holding the reins of Canada for quite some time now, enjoying its usual massive ethically-oiled corporate backing because the whole thing was an thinly-veiled oligarchical Trojan Horse anyway, etc.) is actually not very compatible with the spirit of You-Know-Who’s traditional demands.

So, Canada, unless something changes dramatically, you’re likely to “enjoy” the spectacle that the Senate has become for a generation or two yet. It’s either that or open up Constitutional negotiations, and only then at the Meech Lake scale of everything on the table.

Anyone in the mood for a beau risque? In the meantime, contemplate for a moment that the demand for a Triple-E Senate came from the people who made oil revenue such an emotional issue that Canada still has no sovereign wealth fund, and most of the profits from the West’s oil go into the pockets of oil-igarchs, the costs so socialized it’s practically Communist. Just think about what that means.