Provinces lining up against senate reform package

The Globe and Mail is following up on a story reported on the weekend by Canadian Press that the provincial premiers are raising objections to the Harper administration's senate reform proposals.

The Globe quotes extensively from a May 30, 2007 letter from Premier Danny Williams to the Prime Minister:

Mr. Williams asks that Mr. Harper withdraw both Bill S-4, which would impose eight-year term limits on senators, and Bill C-43, which would create a process for electing senators.

"If you are intent on Senate reform, then it must be done correctly," Mr. Williams says in the letter.

"Any changes should be carefully considered by both (federal and provincial) constitutional orders of government in the context of a national public debate. The current piecemeal and unilateral approach does not suffice."

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