Legislation
‘Senate is not this monolithic rubber stamp anymore,’ independent Senate will change legislative process, Hill power structures
By Abbas Rana Jul. 25, 2016
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's strategy to create a non-partisan and more independent Upper Chamber also means Senators will have to be involved in the front end of the policy process. It's a whole new ballgame.
The Senate National Security Committee, pictured. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants to make the Senate a non-partisan Chamber and is appointing Independent Senators which will change the legislative and lobbying process. The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s strategy to create a non-partisan and more independent Upper Chamber also means Senators will have to be involved in the front end of the policy process, there will need to be attitudinal changes at the political and institutional levels, changes will have to be made in how Senators are engaged, new parliamentary strategies will need to reflect the new Senate, the clerk of the Privy Council will need to drive this cultural shift, and the lobbying and advocacy sector will need to reflect all this, say political insiders.
Related Stories
Politics This Morning
Your email has been added. An email has been sent to your address, please click the link inside of it to confirm your subscription.
More in News
‘Shenanigans,’ jaw-dropping Philpott interview colour marathon 20-plus hour House vote
‘It’s kind of like calving cows, except this is a little messier,’ says Conservative MP James Bezan of the all-night session.SNC-Lavalin affair capturing Canadians’ attention, but no sign of shifting votes, pollsters suggest
MPs and pollsters say the issue could contribute to greater voter cynicism, which could lead to lower turnout at the polls in October.Feds funnel another half-billion dollars into fixing public service pay in 2019 budget
Here are six takeaways for public servants, politicos, media, and policy wonks from the Liberals’ final, pre-election fiscal plan.Liberals propose national school meal program as Canada remains back of pack on children’s nutrition
In yesterday’s federal budget, the government announced its 'intention to work with provinces and territories' toward the creation of the program, though no money was earmarked for it.Ottawa allows Maduro loyalists to run Venezuelan Embassy despite calling his government ‘illegitimate’
Canada has also recognized a representative of interim president Juan Guaidó, who says the ‘complicated’ situation shouldn’t be ‘rushed.’Tory MPs push for loosening rules to allow more partisan mail-outs
‘If it is slanderous or defamatory, then we will be held accountable for that, and we will be held accountable by our electorate, in whether they vote for us again,’ says Conservative House Leader Candice Bergen.PSAC, Treasury Board inch closer in contract talks as election looms
Meanwhile, the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers filed for binding arbitration March 11 in hopes of striking its own pre-election deal.NDP ‘under the gun’ to name candidates, say politicos, as they trail Grits, Tories on campaign slate
Nearly a third of the NDP caucus elected in 2015 have opted not to return to Parliament, part of the reason the party has only named 12 per cent of the candidates expected to run in 2019.Liberals speed up deficit reduction track with help of buoyant tax revenues
Big-ticket items in the last federal budget of this majority Liberal government include more than $6.2-billion to expand federal financing of rental construction, $1-billion for increasing access to drugs for rare diseasTrending Stories
