COLUMN: Think Again – Trudeau has weaponized the Senate

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This article was published 10/09/2024 (248 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The latest public opinion polls show the Liberals trailing the Conservatives by nearly 20 points.

It’s not hard to see why. Between Justin Trudeau’s crippling carbon tax, his inflationary spending, his muddled foreign policy, and his insufferable hypocrisy, there are plenty of reasons why Canadians want him out of office.

If Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre’s support holds firm, he will win a massive majority next year. While this would obviously give him a strong mandate, he’s likely to run into a significant obstacle—the Senate.

Dating back to 1867, the Senate was created for the purpose of being a chamber of “sober, second thought.” The thinking at the time was that the Senate would check, or limit, the power of the elected House of Commons.

Although the Senate has nearly equal powers to the House of Commons, the fact that senators are appointed rather than elected has, to this point, constrained the degree to which they block bills passed by elected parliamentarians. When there is an impasse between the two chambers, the Senate eventually defers to the House of Commons. Delay, rather than total obstruction, is what normally happens.

However, expect that to change after Poilievre becomes prime minister. That’s because Trudeau has fundamentally transformed the nature of the Senate, and not in a good way.

Back in 2014, Trudeau removed all Liberal senators from his caucus and pledged that if he became prime minister, senators would be appointed based on the recommendation of an “independent” advisory panel. After getting elected in 2015, Trudeau set this panel up and wasted no time appointing senators. Today, about three quarters of the Senate has been appointed by Trudeau.

What this means is that most senators were appointed under the veneer of independence. This makes it easier for them to justify blocking legislation they don’t like since they can claim that they have a real mandate and are not mere political hacks.

Of course, there’s nothing independent about this current crop of senators, most of whom are Liberal partisans or progressive activists. For example, consider Trudeau’s two latest Senate appointments from Alberta, Daryl Fridhandler and Kristopher Wells. Fridhandler is a longtime Liberal party activist and donor who has given more than $80,000 to the party since 2003.

Meanwhile, Wells is so far to the left on social issues that he considers calls for political neutrality to be a “far-right dog whistle.” With rhetoric like that, don’t expect Senator Wells to respect the democratic mandate of any future Conservative government, no matter how massive its majority might be.

In the past, prime ministers made at least a modicum of effort to balance the Senate by appointing people with different political views. For example, former Prime Minister Paul Martin appointed long-time Conservative activist Hugh Segal to the Senate in 2005 despite Segal’s strong support for Stephen Harper’s bid to become prime minister.

Lest anyone claim that Trudeau’s recent appointment of former broadcaster Charles Adler is an example of political diversity, keep in mind that Adler has spent the last few years disparaging Conservatives and doing everything he can to disassociate himself from his former conservative views. Trudeau chose Adler because he knew that this appointment would infuriate Conservatives—and so it has.

So, on the day Poilievre takes office as prime minister, he will face a hostile Senate made up of progressive activists who have deluded themselves into thinking that they have a legitimate mandate to protect Canada from Poilievre’s “far right” agenda. Expect clashes between the Senate and the House of Commons to come early and often.

Justin Trudeau has weaponized the Senate for decades to come. That is a sad legacy.

Michael Zwaagstra is a high school teacher and deputy mayor of Steinbach. He can be reached at mzwaagstra@shaw.ca.