On joint efforts

While the Globe and Mail's coverage of Jack Layton's meeting with Stephen Harper focuses mostly on the economic discussions, there's another area of the conversation which looks to be worth a mention:

There does seem to be common ground between the two parties on some issues, including democratic reform, said Mr. Layton.

The New Democrats have said they want to move to proportional representation. The Conservatives have said they want fixed terms for Senators, who would be elected rather than appointed.

“We indicated that we'd be prepared to look at some of the Senate reforms that Mr. Harper is proposing if he would be prepared to look at proportional representation reform for the House of Commons,” said Mr. Layton.

It's of course an open question whether or not Harper will want to work with that type of framework. And indeed there would seem to be a real danger that Harper would offer at best some type of biased consultation about PR in exchange for substantive change to the Senate.

But there's no reason in principle why changes which would substantially increase the power of the Senate should be seen as requiring less consultation or discussion than one which affects how seats and power are allotted in the House of Commons. And if the NDP can reach would-be Senate reformers in the Cons' ranks with that message, then it may be difficult for Harper to justify picking an unnecessary fight over his party's Senate proposals rather than working toward changes on both fronts.