Triple-E Senate

This idea of electing senators to a house made up of equally distributed seats and which could exercise its considerable power over legislation passed by the House of Commons soon became a cause célèbre among Western activists, with one Alberta farmer—Bert Brown—even using his tractor to cut "Triple E Senate or else" into his neighbour's barley field.

Stanley Waters, a member of the western-based, right-wing Reform Party, was the winner of that election, and, under pressure from the Reform Party and the Premier of Alberta, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney agreed to advise the Governor General to appoint the Alberta nominee to the Senate; Waters was sworn in as a senator on June 11, 1990.

In the wake of this failure, the aforementioned Reform Party came to prominence in Alberta, and soon gained considerable political support there.

However, Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper requested in September 2007 that Governor General Michaëlle Jean appoint the aforementioned Bert Brown—who had won two Alberta senatorial nomination elections—to the Senate.

"[9][10] On December 22, 2008, The Globe and Mail reported that "Prime Minister Stephen Harper confirmed...that he is filling all 18 current vacancies.