CASE OVER PM’S DUTY TO FILL SENATE VACANCIES DISMISSED

A court challenge over a prime minister’s right to leave Senate seats vacant indefinitely has been dismissed as moot. The challenge by Vancouver lawyer Aniz Alani was launched in late 2014, when then-prime minister Stephen Harper made it clear he had no intention of filling Senate vacancies. But Federal Court Justice James O’Reilly says the grounds for Alani’s case evaporated once Jus- tin Trudeau became prime minister last fall. Trudeau, pictured, created an independent advisory board to recommend non-partisan Senate appointees and has already appointed seven senators under the new process. Alani had sought a court declaration that the prime minister has a constitutional obligation to fill Senate vacancies within a reasonable time.