HALIFAX — The premier of Nova Scotia has joined Saskatchewan’s premier in denouncing Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision to appoint three failed federal candidates to the Senate.
Nova Scotia’s Darrell Dexter says the appointments Wednesday have inflicted “considerable damage” on Harper’s political agenda, which has long included a promise to create an elected Senate.
Dexter says there’s no justification for the appointments, aside from pure politics.
The NDP premier says the move flies in the face of Harper’s previous commitment to voters in the West, who have spent years pushing for a so-called Triple-E Senate — one that is equal, elected and effective.
On Wednesday, Saskatchewan’s Brad Wall said the appointments rob momentum for Senate reform, noting that his province passed legislation in 2009 to elect senators.
Harper is sending three Conservatives who lost in the May 2 election to the Senate — two of whom quit the upper house to run for a Commons seat: Fabian Manning, who failed to get elected in the Newfoundland riding of Avalon, and Larry Smith, who was unsuccessful in his bid for a seat in Montreal.
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