The Canadian Senators Group was formed not to vote as a block but to vote with more unbiased information at their fingertips.

Saskatchewan Senator Pamela Wallin is one of the 11 members. She explains that because they have more than 9 members, they have access to research funding, so their decisions won’t rely on information handed to them which could have a certain bias.

Wallin says the results of the federal election with no representation in Saskatchewan and Alberta isn’t why the group was formed. They are colleagues from across the country that reach out to each other from time to time and they formed the group to balance, or counter-balance, the majority in the Senate. She hopes the Canadian Senators Group will help to better represent regional concerns and lead to the Senate being more effective than it is.

She points to regional interest needing more of a voice with Bill C-69 which she and some other Senators fear will mean no more pipelines being built. Another example is a bill that would essentially have declared bread to be unhealthy. It was actually about restricting the advertising of junk food and unhealthy foods to kids, but when reviewing the bill, it was realized it could declare bread unhealthy because of its sugar or fat content. She realized the impact this could have on grain farmers, so she lobbied other Senators, and the bill didn’t make it through before deadline last June.