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Trudeau to appoint five Independent senators in January as first step to take partisanship out of upper chamber
Mark Kennedy, Ottawa Citizen
More from Mark Kennedy, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: December 3, 2015 | Last Updated: December 3, 2015 11:46 AM EST
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will have his hands full with the Senate. Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will appoint five new senators in January as he launches reforms to make the upper chamber less partisan.
The new senators from Ontario, Manitoba and Quebec will serve as Independents in the chamber and will be chosen from a list of appointees suggested by a new advisory body being established this month.
They will be the first wave of appointments to be made by the end of 2016, filling 22 current vacancies.
One of the five senators appointed next month will be identified as the Liberal government’s “representative” in the Senate, where there is no longer a government house leader.
As well, Trudeau has appointed current Newfoundland Liberal senator George Furey to be speaker of the Senate, replacing Conservative senator Leo Housakos, who was appointed speaker in May by then-prime minister Stephen Harper.
Furey has been a senator since 1999, when he was appointed to the chamber by then-prime minister Jean Chrétien.
The Liberals say their plan dovetails with Trudeau’s election promise to make the Red Chamber less partisan and more independent.
The announcement was made Thursday morning at the National Press Theatre by Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef and House Leader Dominic LeBlanc.
“Canadians have been clear: the Senate needs real change and we are acting decisively on this commitment,” said Monsef.
LeBlanc, who is tasked with developing a working relationship with the Senate, said he is confident about what lies ahead.
“It’s exciting, it’s transparency,” he said, adding that he believes current senators also want to make the upper chamber less partisan.
“We are optimistic that they will join us on this very exciting path.”
LeBlanc praised Furey as a man of “integrity” who is respected on all sides and who had a role as a “whistleblower” in the Senate expense scandal that tarnished the institution’s reputation in recent years.
In a written statement, Trudeau said Furey brings a “wealth of experience” to the Senate.
“Canadians must have confidence that their democratic institutions will respond to their needs,” said Trudeau. “I believe that Senator Furey will promote respectful, productive deliberations among Senators and ensure strong accountability to Canadians.”
Trudeau said that with the new advisory body for appointments, the government will “begin restoring the trust of Canadians in this public institution.”
Under the new appointments process, a five-person advisory body will be created to provide Trudeau with a “non-binding shortlist of nominees” for the Senate.
They will be guided by certain criteria to ensure nominees have merit. Those criteria include a solid knowledge of the legislative process and the role of the Senate; “outstanding” personal qualities in areas such as public life, ethics and integrity; and a record of community service or “recognized leadership” in their field of expertise.
There will be three federal members on the advisory panel, and two ad hoc members from the provinces where Senate vacancies are to be filled.
Trudeau will not give up the power to recommend to the Governor General who should be appointed to the Senate, meaning there will be no constitutional amendment.
But there will be a political imperative for him to follow the advice of the panel. For each vacancy, the panel will put forward the names of five people. Trudeau will pick from that list.
Although it will not be fully ready for the first round of appointments, there will eventually be a public input component to the process, so that Canadians have a way of recommending themselves, or others, as future senators.
Trudeau’s plans for a reformed Senate have been evolving since January of 2014, when he announced that 32 Liberal senators would immediately be removed from the national Liberal caucus, leaving its membership strictly to MPs.
Furthermore, Trudeau pledged that if he became prime minister, he would “put in place an open, transparent, non-partisan public process for appointing and confirming Senators.”
As well, he said all future senators would “sit independent from the political parties that serve in the House of Commons.”
In the recent election campaign, the Liberal policy platform was vague on how the process would work.
The government’s plan for a new advisory body for appointments will spell out criteria and principles that must underlie their choices for potential senators.
As part of that, gender parity will be identified as a strong priority. However, there will likely not be a “hard target” that requires, for instance, that exactly half of all suggested appointments be women.
In an interview with the Citizen in June, Trudeau was optimistic about the implications of his reforms.
“I know that appointing people who are chosen by an impartial non-partisan process and then expecting them to do independent-minded work, and not partisan work in the Senate will go a long way toward a sense of transparency and openness,” he said.
Mark Kennedy, Ottawa CitizenMore from Mark Kennedy, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: December 3, 2015 | Last Updated: December 3, 2015 11:46 AM EST
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will have his hands full with the Senate. Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will appoint five new senators in January as he launches reforms to make the upper chamber less partisan.
The new senators from Ontario, Manitoba and Quebec will serve as Independents in the chamber and will be chosen from a list of appointees suggested by a new advisory body being established this month.
They will be the first wave of appointments to be made by the end of 2016, filling 22 current vacancies.
One of the five senators appointed next month will be identified as the Liberal government’s “representative” in the Senate, where there is no longer a government house leader.
As well, Trudeau has appointed current Newfoundland Liberal senator George Furey to be speaker of the Senate, replacing Conservative senator Leo Housakos, who was appointed speaker in May by then-prime minister Stephen Harper.
Furey has been a senator since 1999, when he was appointed to the chamber by then-prime minister Jean Chrétien.
The Liberals say their plan dovetails with Trudeau’s election promise to make the Red Chamber less partisan and more independent.
The announcement was made Thursday morning at the National Press Theatre by Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef and House Leader Dominic LeBlanc.
“Canadians have been clear: the Senate needs real change and we are acting decisively on this commitment,” said Monsef.
LeBlanc, who is tasked with developing a working relationship with the Senate, said he is confident about what lies ahead.
“It’s exciting, it’s transparency,” he said, adding that he believes current senators also want to make the upper chamber less partisan.
“We are optimistic that they will join us on this very exciting path.”
LeBlanc praised Furey as a man of “integrity” who is respected on all sides and who had a role as a “whistleblower” in the Senate expense scandal that tarnished the institution’s reputation in recent years.
In a written statement, Trudeau said Furey brings a “wealth of experience” to the Senate.
“Canadians must have confidence that their democratic institutions will respond to their needs,” said Trudeau. “I believe that Senator Furey will promote respectful, productive deliberations among Senators and ensure strong accountability to Canadians.”
Trudeau said that with the new advisory body for appointments, the government will “begin restoring the trust of Canadians in this public institution.”
Under the new appointments process, a five-person advisory body will be created to provide Trudeau with a “non-binding shortlist of nominees” for the Senate.
They will be guided by certain criteria to ensure nominees have merit. Those criteria include a solid knowledge of the legislative process and the role of the Senate; “outstanding” personal qualities in areas such as public life, ethics and integrity; and a record of community service or “recognized leadership” in their field of expertise.
There will be three federal members on the advisory panel, and two ad hoc members from the provinces where Senate vacancies are to be filled.
Trudeau will not give up the power to recommend to the Governor General who should be appointed to the Senate, meaning there will be no constitutional amendment.
But there will be a political imperative for him to follow the advice of the panel. For each vacancy, the panel will put forward the names of five people. Trudeau will pick from that list.
Although it will not be fully ready for the first round of appointments, there will eventually be a public input component to the process, so that Canadians have a way of recommending themselves, or others, as future senators.
Trudeau’s plans for a reformed Senate have been evolving since January of 2014, when he announced that 32 Liberal senators would immediately be removed from the national Liberal caucus, leaving its membership strictly to MPs.
Furthermore, Trudeau pledged that if he became prime minister, he would “put in place an open, transparent, non-partisan public process for appointing and confirming Senators.”
As well, he said all future senators would “sit independent from the political parties that serve in the House of Commons.”
In the recent election campaign, the Liberal policy platform was vague on how the process would work.
The government’s plan for a new advisory body for appointments will spell out criteria and principles that must underlie their choices for potential senators.
As part of that, gender parity will be identified as a strong priority. However, there will likely not be a “hard target” that requires, for instance, that exactly half of all suggested appointments be women.
In an interview with the Citizen in June, Trudeau was optimistic about the implications of his reforms.
“I know that appointing people who are chosen by an impartial non-partisan process and then expecting them to do independent-minded work, and not partisan work in the Senate will go a long way toward a sense of transparency and openness,” he said.
