‘Unprecedented’ upheaval in Senate spurred by election, 2015 reforms: '150 years of tradition has unravelled'

The dramatic changes in the Senate over the past few weeks were driven by the fresh start offered by a new Parliament, and the reforms to the Chamber started by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau back in 2015, say one of the Senators appointed under his watch and two experts on Canadian political science. Eleven Senators announced on Nov. 4 they were forming the Canadian Senators Group. Eight of them left the Independent Senators Group that has come to dominate the Chamber since its formation in 2016; another two came from the Conservative Senate Caucus; and non-affiliated Senator David Richards (New Brunswick) also joined the group. Ten days later, the dwindling Senate Liberal caucus, which had been exiled from the Liberal government and House caucus by Mr. Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) in 2014, announced that it was reforming with the same members under the name Progressive Senate Group. Four days later, Sen. Percy Downe (Charlottetown, P.E.I.) left the group for the CSG, while Sen. Jean-Guy Dagenais (Victoria, Que.) also left the Senate Conservative caucus for the CSG. Sen. Downe’s departure dropped the PSG below the threshold needed for official status in the Senate, and its members are now listed as non-affiliated Senators. The PSG has been trying to recruit new members from the ISG for months, so far without success. Sen. Diane Bellemare (Alma, Que.) also left the government representative team in the Senate on Nov. 13, joining the ISG the next day. The swapping of affiliations and formation of new groups in the Senate is unprecedented in Canadian political history, say two experts in Canadian political science, Prof. Nelson Wiseman at the University of Toronto and Prof. Donald Savoie at the Université de Moncton. “It’s obviously unprecedented. We’re undergoing an experiment with the Senate that is relatively new, and this is the first time after an election” that the Senate has reconvened, said Prof. Wiseman. “I think it’ll continue. It’ll continue, no matter what, because the fundamental issue is, that, unlike in the House of Commons, votes in the Senate don’t have the same consequences, in terms of sustaining or defeating the government,” he said. The growth of the ISG into a group that dominates the Senate with more than 50 seats—currently 51—paved the way for Senators to leave partisan Senate caucuses that no longer hold controlling power in the Chamber, said both Prof. Wiseman and Prof. Savoie. “I expect more of this, and it’s just going to be a bit wild and woolly with the Senate,” said Prof. Wiseman. The creation of the CSG followed months of speculation by Senators that a new group could form in the Senate following this fall’s election. Some Senators say there may be more changes coming to the Red Chamber. Senator Scott Tannas caused a stir when he left the Conservative Senate caucus earlier this month to serve as the founding, interim leader of the Canadian Senators Group. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade The changes in the Senate are happening “because 150 years of tradition has unravelled” in the Red Chamber, said Independent Senator Marilou McPhedran (Manitoba), who was appointed to the Senate by Mr. Trudeau in 2016 following a long career as a lawyer and equality advocate. “It’s been in the process of unravelling ever since Prime Minister Trudeau started to appoint Independents,” said Sen. McPhedran. “I think we’re seeing, the glue has dissolved, and this notion of a new parliamentary session has created a sense of opportunity for people that want to remain independent, but also would like to be probably in a smaller group of people that are more like-minded,” she said. The Independent Senators Group had grown to 59 members before some of its members left for the CSG. Several current and former ISG Senators have remarked over the last several months that the group had grown to an unwieldy size. ISG Sen. Paul Massicotte (De Lanaudière, Que.) told The Hill Times earlier this month that, ideally, no group in the Senate should exceed roughly 40 members. The CSG has capped its membership at 25. Senators Pamela Wallin (Saskatchewan) and Elaine McCoy (Alberta) told The Hill Times earlier this month that they left the ISG to join the CSG because they thought highly of the other founding CSG Senators, and were attracted by the smaller size of the group. Sen. Wallin also said she was attracted by the group’s declared focus on regional representation, and said she believed some ISG Senators felt an obligation to support Mr. Trudeau's legislation, because he appointed them to the Chamber. 'You don't fix things by leaving' The creation of new groups such as the CSG provides “an opportunity to work together, probably to kind of skip over some of the preliminary steps that we still need to be taking in the Independent Senators Group. We are highly diverse. And I don’t see it as a bad thing,” said Sen. McPhedran. Sen. McPhedran said she had been approached by someone in the then-Senate Liberal caucus about joining the PSG. She said she was “not at all close” to leaving the ISG, but wouldn’t rule it out indefinitely. Mr. Trudeau started the push toward a more independent Senate by eschewing the practice of appointing partisan loyalists to the Chamber after coming to power in 2015. He allowed any Canadian adult to apply for a position in the Senate, and created advisory boards—though the PMO is involved in the selection of their members—to provide him with a shortlist of qualified candidates for appointment to the Senate when there are vacancies to fill. “We’ve turned the Senate into 100 unguided missiles. Where it’s going to go is still unclear,” said Prof. Savoie. Conservative Senate Leader Don Plett (Landmark, Man.) said he believed Senators appointed to serve a particular party in the Senate should do so throughout their time in the Chamber. “You don’t fix things by leaving, you fix things by staying and working with your group. There were a number of Senators that were appointed specifically to represent certain political dynamics. They were appointed by prime ministers, by the governor general on the recommendation of prime ministers in certain parties. I believe that every one of these people has an obligation to serve under the auspices of what they were appointed to serve under. They have chosen to go a different route,” he said of Senators who left his caucus, and the Liberal caucus-turned PSG. “Hopefully in two years it will be a Conservative government and things will get back to normal.” ISG Leader Sen. Yuen Pau Woo (B.C.) said the movement of Senators from partisan to non-partisan groups in the Senate could be positive. “If the increase in the number of Senators who are less motivated by partisan political interests is the character of the new Senate, then I would hope that our work focuses more on the merits and demerits of legislation, rather than on scoring political points. So to that extent, having a larger number of, on the face of it, nonpartisan Senators, is not only consistent with the reforms that were started in 2016, but should be good for the Senate. But we will have to prove that to the Canadian public.” peter@hilltimes.com Standings in the Senate Source: Senate of Canada website Affiliation Seats Available Independent Senators Group 51 Conservative Party of Canada 24 Canadian Senators Group 13 Non-affiliated 12 Vacant seats 5 British Columbia (1), New Brunswick (1), Quebec (2), Saskatchewan (1) TOTAL 105

‘Unprecedented’ upheaval in Senate spurred by election, 2015 reforms: ‘150 years of tradition has unravelled’

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‘Unprecedented’ upheaval in Senate spurred by election, 2015 reforms: ‘150 years of tradition has unravelled’

The swapping of affiliations and formation of new groups in the Senate is unprecedented in Canadian political history, say two experts in Canadian political science.

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