THE B.C. New Democrat Opposition will introduce a motion in the legislature to support the abolition of the Senate, and are calling on the government to support it.

“The recent Senate scandals serve to underline that the Senate needs to be abolished,” said New Democrat Leader Adrian Dix on Wednesday. “B.C. is under-represented, with one senator for every 764,000 British Columbians, while other jurisdictions get a senator for less than 37,000 people.

“The premier needs to end her habit of repeatedly changing positions on the Senate based on her political needs and join New Democrats in taking a principled stand. A unanimous motion from B.C.’s legislature would send a clear message that British Columbians want to abolish the Senate, once and for all.”

The motion uses similar wording to a motion passed in the Saskatchewan legislature during its fall session: “Be it resolved that this House supports the abolition of the Senate of Canada.”

The motion was passed unanimously in Saskatchewan with the support of both the governing Saskatchewan Party and the Opposition New Democrats. On the same day, Saskatchewan repealed legislation that allowed for elected nominees to the Senate.

“If the legislature had sat this fall, we could have passed this motion,” said B.C. New Democrat House Leader John Horgan. “Instead, British Columbians are continuing to endure ever more elaborate contortions from a premier and government that changes positions on the Senate as their political situation changes. It’s time the Liberals stood on principle and answered the question: do they or do they not support the existence of the Senate?”