Published by Clay Whitman, a lawyer in Vancouver, Canada.
The Senate
Democractic Reform part of Federal Throne Speech
4 March 2010
The federal throne speech, given yesterday by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, outlined the government's legislative program for the new parliamentary session.
The throne speech included some references to changes to the laws of democracy, including an increased number of seats in the legislature for British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, expanding advanced voting opportunities and senate reform.
Here is the full text of the paragraph on democratic reform:
We are a country founded on democracy. Our shared values and experiences must be reflected in our national institutions, starting with Parliament. To reflect the growing number of Canadians living in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta, our Government will follow through on its commitment to address their under-representation, consistent with the fundamental, democratic, constitutional principle of representation by population in the House of Commons. It will propose legislation to increase voter participation by expanding advance voting in elections. Our Government also remains committed to Senate reform and will continue to pursue measures to make the upper chamber more democratic, effective and accountable.