Canada PoliticsJustin Trudeau gets specific about the Senate: Wants more Commander Hadfield’s, less Mike Duffy’s
Justin Trudeau is starting to reveal details of his vision of what Canada's Senate should look like.
On Sunday morning, on CTV's Question Period, Trudeau told host Kevin Newman that he wants the prime minister to choose senators based on a list put together by an independent commission.
"I truly believe that if we are more transparent about...the process by which Senators are selected we're going to be able to get more Commander Hadfield types in to the Senate and less Mike Duffy types.
"I think having a very open and transparent process whereby a commission or a selection of Canadians of good repute put forward lists from which a prime minister can choose. Where you have a transparent approach to expecting that senators actually be there not as rewards for past service to a political party but be there because they have a tremendous amount to contribute to their country and their parliamentary institutions.
And that requires a shift that will...make sure people are less cynical about government."
Trudeau added that he doesn't think that Stephen Harper or Thomas Mulcair are being "honest with Canadians" when they talk about reforming or abolishing the Senate.
"Either one of them — for any significant impact — would require constitutional change," he said forgetting, perhaps, that the Tories have referred the Senate question to the Supreme Court.
"Nobody wants to fall in to another round of terrible constitutional negotiations that distract us that Canadians...are facing."
The full CTV interview with Trudeau can be seen here.
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Trudeau will get some support on this in light of the recent Senate expense scandal but his idea isn't a new one.
Tom Flanagan — yes, that Tom Flanagan — proposed a similar system last month in the Globe and Mail, using the British House of Lords as an example.
Britain has an independent House of Lords Appointment Commission, which names non-partisan members to the House of Lords. This helps to reduce the partisan warfare in and around the upper house, which is so much in evidence in Canada at the moment.
A prime minister could announce that he will seek advice for all future Senate appointments before recommending them to the governor-general. That wouldn’t raise a constitutional problem because the appointment mechanism would still be the same, just with an advisory layer added beneath it.
Closer to home, many have suggested that we adopt a system like we have for the Order of Canada where recipients are chosen based on recommendations by an independent advisory board.
But this isn't a foolproof system either. Heck, Conrad Black was awarded an Order of Canada.
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With an independent body selecting Senators, you would still have a Senate that is un-elected, unaccountable and with the ability to veto laws put forward by elected officials. The Senate would still cost taxpayers over $90 million a year.
And, just because an independent commission is choosing Senators, it doesn't guarantee that we won't see the likes of Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin or Patrick Brazeau.
'Better' Senators doesn't necessarily mean a better red chamber.
This is a debate that will indeed continue.
(Photo courtesy of the Canadian Press)
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