Trudeau’s Senate is a Frankenstein’s monster
And it’s bent on wreaking havoc for its creator
The Liberal government is keen to pass the bill that would make the national anthem gender-neutral before Canada’s 150th birthday July 1.
The legislation, which would change the words from “thy sons” to “of us,” passed through the House of Commons almost one year ago but is still languishing in the Senate.
It’s not the only bill mired in the Red Chamber. The government’s legislative agenda has slowed to the pace of coastal erosion, in part because dozens of new Liberal-appointed “independent” senators want to show they are not beholden to Justin Trudeau, but mainly because the 38 remaining Conservative senators are intent on gumming up the works.
Peter Harder, the government’s representative in the Senate, said recently they “are on the precipice of adopting” the new version of the anthem. But the bill has been at third reading for the past two months.
The last time it came up for debate, Yonah Martin, the Senate deputy opposition leader, rose to say: “It’s my birthday and I would ask the chamber to indulge me by adjourning debate at this time.” The chamber obliged.
As in the House of Commons, the government could use time allocation to bring it to a vote.
But Harder has not used time allocation in the Senate and with good reason — he doesn’t know whether he has the votes to get it passed.
Welcome to the new Senate, a Frankenstein’s monster fashioned by Trudeau which now seems intent on wreaking revenge on its creator.
The Liberals were given advance warning the independent senators would not be pliable when the Senate sent the assisted dying bill back to the House for major amendments. Last December, finance minister Bill Morneau was faced with having to withdraw changes to the Bank Act contained in his last budget implementation bill, or else see his entire budget plan unravel.
Since then, the Senate has sent four bills back to the House with suggested amendments — C-4, on union certification; C-6 on revocation of Canadian citizenship on ground of national security; C-7, the RCMP union bill; and C-37, the legislation aimed at curbing the underground fentanyl market.
Liberals say they expected an element of to and fro when they started remaking the Senate.
“It is taking more time, but that is of our own making. The less-partisan dynamic means senators don’t take their marching orders from the government,” one senior official said.
But while the Liberals were prepared for the new senators to indulge in sober chin-stroking, they are less tolerant with Conservative obstructionism.
Harder laid out his frustrations in a paper criticizing the opposition in the Senate for taking advantage of a situation that has given them the opportunity to “delay, delay, delay.”
“Sober second-thinking must lead to decision-making,” he said, lamenting the constant adjourning of debate that postpone votes “virtually indefinitely.”
He cited C-6, the citizenship act, which idled at second reading for nearly four months last year, with only four opposition senators taking the floor — “one speaker a month.”
Part of the solution, Harder said, is the establishment of a Senate business committee, which would set out a schedule on a bill-by-bill basis to ensure legislation is pushed along more quickly.
But it would be no surprise if the Liberal government takes more Draconian action.
The Conservatives chair 11 of 16 standing committees, which gives them great leeway in controlling the Senate’s timetable.
An option open to the government is to prorogue parliament — a move that would kill existing legislation but would allow it to reconstitute committees in the Senate.
There are bills the Liberals want to pass before the summer break, including C-44, the budget implementation act, which some senators believe is an omnibus bill that should be sub-divided. In particular, reports suggest some senators are keen to carve off into a separate bill the proposal to create an infrastructure bank.
With the House scheduled to sit for another four weeks, it’s likely the usual last-minute flurry of legislative activity will ensure the government passes the most urgent bills.
While it’s true a fall prorogation would mean the pot bill would have to be reintroduced, one government source pointed out it is at such an early stage it hasn’t even made it to committee.
During the election, the Liberals said they would not resort to “legislative tricks” like prorogation to avoid scrutiny.
Now they are in power, and that commitment has been diluted to a promise to explain the rationale to Canadians if the government does decide to use prorogation.
The Liberals may take a reputational hit if they decide to employ a tactic Stephen Harper turned into a dirty word.
But it would allow them to press the reset button, launch the second half of the mandate with a throne speech and, best of all, rid themselves of those pesky Conservative Senate committee chairs.
(TORY) SENATORS ARE INTENT ON GUMMING UP THE WORKS.