ICYMI: Trudeau radically overhauled the Senate — will Carney keep his reforms?
2025/08/05 2 Comments
We shall see. Chart below contrasts Chrétien, Harper and Trudeau appointments:
…In an interview with CBC Radio’s The House, House leader Steve MacKinnon signalled there may indeed be more changes coming.
“I think the Senate is very much a work in progress,” he said.
“We continue to work constructively with the Senate in its current configuration and as it may evolve. I know many senators, the various groups in the Senate and others continue to offer some constructive thoughts on that.”
Asked if Carney will appoint Liberals, MacKinnon said the prime minister will name senators who are “attuned to the vagaries of public opinion, attuned to the wishes of Canadians and attuned to the agenda of the government as is reflected in the election results.”
Carney is interested in senators who “are broadly understanding of what the government’s trying to achieve,” MacKinnon said.
As to whether he’s heard about efforts to revive a Senate Liberal caucus, MacKinnon said: “I haven’t been part of any of those discussions.”
Alberta Sen. Paula Simons is a member of the Independent Senators Group, the largest in the chamber and one mostly composed of Trudeau appointees (she is one of them, appointed in 2018).
Simons said she knows the Conservatives would scrap Trudeau’s reforms at the first opportunity. What concerns her more are those Liberals who are also against the changes.
“There’s a fair bit of rumbling about standing up a Liberal caucus again. And I am unalterably opposed to that,” she said.
When the last Liberal caucus was disbanded, some of its members regrouped as the Progressive Senate Group, which now includes senators who were never Liberals.
“To unscramble that omelette, whether you’re a Liberal or a Conservative, I think would be a betrayal of everything that we’ve accomplished over the last decade,” Simons said.
“I think the Senate’s reputation has improved greatly as a result of these changes. I think the way we are able to improve legislation has also increased tenfold. It would be foolish and wasteful to reverse that.”
Still, she said there’s been pushback from some Trudeau appointees.
Senate debates are now longer, committee hearings feature more witnesses and there’s more amendments to legislation than ever before, she said.
Not to mention Independent senators can’t be whipped to vote a certain way. All of that makes the legislative process more difficult to navigate.
“Partisan Liberals don’t like the new independent Senate because they can’t control it as easily,” she said.
Marc Gold, Trudeau’s last government representative in the Senate who briefly served under Carney before retiring, said his advice to the new prime minister is to keep the Senate the way it is.
“The evolution of the Senate to a less partisan, complementary institution is a good thing. I think it’s a success, and I certainly hope that it continues,” Gold said….
Source: Trudeau radically overhauled the Senate — will Carney keep his reforms?
About Andrew
Multicultural Meanderings 
The Senate is not elected. It has become more effective, but it cannot become more equal without constitutional amendment.
I must confess, I did not notice that the Senate had started to take on an EE composition through Trudeau’s appointments.
But it seems like it’s been a while since the Senate sent back a bill to the Commons with serious amendments. By contrast, in the UK, an AI bill went back and forth between the Commons and the Lords several times. I want to see the Senate play an even more important role in the crafting of legislation.
Yes, striking but fairly common to all government appointments under Trudeau. I guess we will see what kind of a role it will play with future bills.