The Senate’s fresh start
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s first batch of new senators shows that, for now at least, simply being a party hack won’t get you into the Red Chamber
At long last, the fog of scandal may be lifting from the Senate.
After three years of headlines focused on spending scandals, cronyism and corruption, the Senate got a welcome taste of positive news on Friday. The seven new members named by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the red chamber are excellent choices that should go a long way toward winning back respect for what has become possibly Canada’s most reviled institution.
All seven have sterling credentials, and none owe their new position to service to the Liberal party. Trudeau promised during last year’s election campaign to name new senators through a “non-partisan, merit-based process” — and so far he has done a remarkably good job of living up to that commitment.
At the same time, he burnished his feminist credentials: Four of the seven appointees are female.
The appointment comes just as the Senate may be approaching the end of its long Season of Shame. The RCMP, according to multiple reports this past week, has exonerated as many as 24 of the 30 senators it was investigating for possible spending violations. And former Supreme Court justice Ian Binnie may clear the air further on Monday when he issues a report on some contested expenses.
Most importantly, though, Trudeau’s first batch of new senators shows that, for now at least, simply being a party hack won’t get you into the Red Chamber. Judging by their public records, the appointees will probably be broadly sympathetic to the Liberals’ progressive agenda, but they didn’t come up through the party’s network.
The new senator with the toughest role is Peter Harder, named as “government representative” (rather than Liberal leader) in the Senate. That’s a task made more difficult by the fact that Trudeau cut Liberal members loose from their commitment to party dictates in order to make the Senate less partisan.
But Harder knows how to run things. He was a respected bureaucrat for nearly 30 years, spending 16 of those as a deputy minister. More importantly, his appointment speaks to Trudeau’s promise to keep narrow partisanship out of the appointments process. Harder started out as a political aide in the Tory governments of Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney, and has held positions under several prime ministers of various political stripes.
He will need all his institutional savvy to stick-handle government legislation through the Senate without being able to rely on a disciplined Liberal caucus.
The other appointments also demonstrate a focus on non-partisanship, diversity, public service, and determination in the face of adversity.
They include Murray Sinclair, a retired judge and the former chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and Ratna Omidvar, the founding executive director of the Global Diversity and Migration Exchange at Ryerson University.
Naming Frances Lankin, a former Ontario NDP cabinet minister, also underscores the emphasis on non-partisanship. And the appointment of Paralympic wheelchair athlete Chantal Petitclerc puts a respected voice for the disabled in the Senate. André Pratte, a journalist noted for championing federalism in Quebec, will be another strong and independent voice.
Trudeau is hardly the first prime minister to make a splash by naming people from outside his own party to high-profile roles. Mulroney did it by sending Stephen Lewis to the United Nations, and both Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin made quality appointments to the Senate.
The real test will be whether Trudeau can keep on this promising path, and not give in to the temptation to reward his political allies as he fills more vacancies (there are 17 more empty seats in the Senate).
The prime minister made a commitment with these first appointments “to reform the Senate, restore public trust, and bring an end to partisanship in the appointments process.” So far, he’s living up to that promise.