CTVNEWS

Tory caucus told to expect Senate reform bill this spring

The Canadian Press Published Thursday, January 14, 2010 5:52PM EST

The statue of Justice outside the Supreme Court of Canada overlooks the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2009. (Pawel Dwulit / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

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OTTAWA - A Conservative senator says the Harper government will introduce legislation on Senate term limits this spring despite objections from some provinces.

Leo Housakos told the Laval News that the Conservative government already has in hand legal opinions indicating it can unilaterally change senate term lengths.

Citing internal Conservative caucus discussions, Housakos said the senate reform legislation will be introduced in the next parliamentary session, likely between March and June.

Dimitri Soudas, a spokesman in the Prime Minister's Office, confirmed a bill on limiting senate terms will be reintroduced at some point but said the timing has not yet been decided.

Soudas said the government would like to limit senators, who currently can serve as long as 45 years, to a term of between eight and 13 years.

Housakos noted that a number of provinces, including Quebec which he represents in the Senate, are "vehemently opposed" to Senate reform but that term limits will be the government's "first step."