The reference to Canada is apposite, because the example of Canada demonstrates, by the effects of the absence of a federal structure, the effects of having such a structure in Australia. Canada has several problems, some of which, such as the problem of Quebec nationalism, do not provide comparisons with Australia. One of those problems in recent times, however, has been the extreme alienation of the outlying provinces, particularly the western provinces, caused by the domination of government by the centres of population. So fed up did the western provinces become with the domination of the federal government by Toronto and Montreal (cf Sydney and Melbourne), that they spawned a new political party, the Reform Party, which was able virtually to wipe out one of the established major parties in a general election. While this may be seen as a fresh breeze blowing, such a geographical division bodes ill for the unity of the country. Such serious alienation has not occurred in Australia, and a primary reason for this is that the federal structure of the legislature, unlike the non-federal structure of the legislature in Canada, has altered the representational system by forcing majorities to be geographically distributed. It is significant that one of the demands of reformers in Canada is for a Senate like Australia's, representing the provinces equally and with real legislative powers. They refer to it as a "triple-E Senate", elected, equal and effective. [7] A disgruntled would-be politician from the western provinces told me that he favoured those provinces seceding from Canada and joining the United States. When asked why they would do such a thing, his first response was that they would each have two senators in Washington and therefore would not be ignored as they were ignored by Ottawa.
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