How the Senate changed in 2016 — and what it means for the government’s agenda for 2017
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-politics/how-the-senate-changed-in-2016-and-what-it-means-for-the-governments-agenda-for-2017
Andrew Forget/Postmedia/FileA view of the Senate chamber.
OTTAWA
— 2016 was a transformative year for Canada’s Senate, and a revitalized
upper chamber will likely exert even more influence on the federal
government’s agenda in 2017.
Senators of all stripes, including the new contingent of independents the Liberal government has appointed, appear to be reinterpreting the chamber’s “sober second thought” mandate in a more activist light. Here’s what you need to know about the year Canadian senators just had, and what may lie ahead:
It’s independents’ day
Stephen Harper left a lot of seats empty in the red chamber, and his successor Justin Trudeau has filled 28 of them via an independent advisory board. That process, especially for the 21 appointed this fall after an open application process, wasn’t without criticism, since many believed the appointees reflected small-l liberal values.
Still, public polling favours a less-partisan Senate, and independents now form the biggest group in the chamber. Most are now part of a formal Independent Senators Group, led by “facilitator” Sen. Elaine McCoy. They say they won’t vote together, unless it’s on Senate rules and logistics to help them operate in what’s always been a two-party system.
A new round of applications launched in December for six more vacancies anticipated next year: one in New Brunswick, two in Ontario and three in Nova Scotia. At least one average Joe who didn’t get appointed in the last round, an Ottawa hot dog vendor, said he’ll re-apply.
Meanwhile, senators continue to discuss how the chamber should work.
The Independent Senators Group will hold meetings Feb. 2 and 3 to
“define their vision of the Senate of the future,” according to a recent
press release.
And in December, independent senators struck two important deals with the their Liberal and Conservative counterparts: one to increase the size of Senate committees so a proportionate number of independents would sit on them, and another to give independent senators an office budget for the first time ever.
A Senate staffer confirmed the independent caucus will have a budget of $722,000 for 2017/18 — still less than the more-than-$1-million partisan caucuses get.
The Senate is reforming itself — or trying to
Its communications branch has been overhauled and now produces infographics, live-tweets debates and gets Senators to sing carpool karaoke.
Starting last fall, the Senate started requiring proactive disclosure from all senators’ offices, including detailed financial information — one way they’re trying to exorcise ;the ghosts of expense scandals past.
And in October, a first report from the Senate’s modernization committee suggested a swath of changes that could further upset the status quo, including the overhaul of Senate spending rules, formalizing the election of a speaker (rather than appointment by prime minister), mandating the appearance of government ministers to answer questions, and televising Senate proceeedings.
The debate over logistics is also far from over. While Peter Harder, the government’s representative in the Senate, has said the chamber will no longer be home to the government-versus-opposition Westminster model, senators from both parties are defending the need for an organized group to poke holes in government legislation.
They’re changing government bills — and beating them to the punch
Senators of all stripes, including the new contingent of independents the Liberal government has appointed, appear to be reinterpreting the chamber’s “sober second thought” mandate in a more activist light. Here’s what you need to know about the year Canadian senators just had, and what may lie ahead:
It’s independents’ day
Postmedia and Canadian Press filesSeven
of the new senate appointees. Top row, from left to right: Raymonde
Gagne, Justice Murray Sinclair, V. Peter Harder, and Frances Lankin.
Bottom row, from left to right: Ratna Omidvar, Chantal Petitclerc, and
Andre Pratte.
Stephen Harper left a lot of seats empty in the red chamber, and his successor Justin Trudeau has filled 28 of them via an independent advisory board. That process, especially for the 21 appointed this fall after an open application process, wasn’t without criticism, since many believed the appointees reflected small-l liberal values.
Still, public polling favours a less-partisan Senate, and independents now form the biggest group in the chamber. Most are now part of a formal Independent Senators Group, led by “facilitator” Sen. Elaine McCoy. They say they won’t vote together, unless it’s on Senate rules and logistics to help them operate in what’s always been a two-party system.
A new round of applications launched in December for six more vacancies anticipated next year: one in New Brunswick, two in Ontario and three in Nova Scotia. At least one average Joe who didn’t get appointed in the last round, an Ottawa hot dog vendor, said he’ll re-apply.
And in December, independent senators struck two important deals with the their Liberal and Conservative counterparts: one to increase the size of Senate committees so a proportionate number of independents would sit on them, and another to give independent senators an office budget for the first time ever.
A Senate staffer confirmed the independent caucus will have a budget of $722,000 for 2017/18 — still less than the more-than-$1-million partisan caucuses get.
The Senate is reforming itself — or trying to
Adrian Wyld / The Canadian PressJustin Trudeau has said he wants the Senate to be truly independent, not an appendage of the governing party.
Its communications branch has been overhauled and now produces infographics, live-tweets debates and gets Senators to sing carpool karaoke.
Starting last fall, the Senate started requiring proactive disclosure from all senators’ offices, including detailed financial information — one way they’re trying to exorcise ;the ghosts of expense scandals past.
And in October, a first report from the Senate’s modernization committee suggested a swath of changes that could further upset the status quo, including the overhaul of Senate spending rules, formalizing the election of a speaker (rather than appointment by prime minister), mandating the appearance of government ministers to answer questions, and televising Senate proceeedings.
The debate over logistics is also far from over. While Peter Harder, the government’s representative in the Senate, has said the chamber will no longer be home to the government-versus-opposition Westminster model, senators from both parties are defending the need for an organized group to poke holes in government legislation.
They’re changing government bills — and beating them to the punch
Adrian Wyld/The Canadian PressA Senate committee has said some government legislation must be split into smaller bills to be dealt with fairly.
The newly independent-minded Senate has exerted more influence over government bills than has been seen in recent memory.
During a debate over physician-assisted dying law in May and June, the Senate sent amendments back to the House of Commons that would have changed the bill to more closely align it with a Supreme Court decision (and therefore the constitution). The amendments were largely rejected, but it was a first major wake-up call for a Commons unused to pushback from senators.
Then the Senate finance committee spurred the government to amend its budget implementation bill, C-29, to preserve provincial consumer protection. It also voted to amend tax bill C-2 to shift more savings to people at the lower end of the middle tax bracket, though the Senate’s speaker ruled the amendment out of order (tax measures can’t originate from the Senate).
Most recently, the Senate aboriginal peoples committee sent a letter to Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett asking the government to get a court extension and fix its bill on gender discrimination in Indian Act registration, S-3 — which originated from the Senate.
Five bills are now making their way through the Senate and a bunch more are coming, including C-22, a controversial bill that would establish a parliamentary oversight committee for Canada’s security and intelligence agencies.
Meanwhile, the Senate’s still waiting to hear back on another one of the bills it amended. In June, the Senate changed C-7, the RCMP union bill, to remove exemptions from what can be brought up in collective bargaining. But the House of Commons still hasn’t come back with a decision on whether to accept or reject that amendment. Watch for a conclusion early in 2017, when Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale is expected to revisit the file.
Email: mdsmith@postmedia.com | Twitter: mariedanielles
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