Carney’s return to blatant Senate partisanship must trigger an effort for fundamental change

After a years’ long hiatus, naked partisan appointments to the Canadian Senate have made a triumphant return.

Last month, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the appointment of four new senators to Canada’s Upper Chamber. 

Among them included Tom Pitfield, who until the day of his appointment was the prime minister’s principal secretary, and Richard Martel, a sitting Tory MP from Quebec. 

Conveniently, Martel’s appointment to the Senate triggered a by-election in a competitive riding that the governing Liberals hope to nab from the Opposition Conservatives.

The appointments of Pitfield and Martel ends the years’ long charade put on by the Trudeau Liberals, who tried to claim that partisan appointments to the Canadian Senate had ended. 

After being elected in 2015, former prime minister Justin Trudeau set up a supposedly neutral panel that helped him select new senators. 

While senators Trudeau appointed to the Senate did not formally sit in the Liberal caucus, evidence shows that they overwhelmingly voted in favour of the prime minister’s agenda. 

In fact, one early study found Trudeau-appointed “independent” senators voted with his government some 95 per cent of the time.

This essentially allowed Trudeau to appoint senators who would vote in favour of his agenda to the Upper Chamber while still claiming to have ended partisanship in Canada’s scandal-plagued Senate. 

But the problem with the Senate was never partisanship. Rather, problems stem from a lack of accountability and effective representation.  

Now that Carney appears prepared to go back to the old days of appointing partisan senators, we can dispense with the pretense and get back to the heart of the problem. 

Installing individuals – whether they be Liberals, Conservatives, or independents – to sit in the Parliament of Canada without any ability for Canadians to weigh in on their selection is flat out wrong. 

So too is the fact that those appointed senators can sit in the Upper House until age 75, meaning an appointment can last for over 40 years. 

Add in the fact that regional representation is so unequal – with Prince Edward Island having one senator for every 38,000 residents and British Columbia one for every 834,000 – and we have an institution that is clearly broken.

What, then, is the solution?

Former prime minister Stephen Harper got so frustrated with the Senate (after making dozens of appointments of his own) that, thankfully, we have answers. 

He asked the Supreme Court of Canada what it would take for changes to be made to the Senate. 

Abolish it? All 10 provinces would have to agree.

Hold elections? Seven of 10 provinces representing 50 per cent of the population must say yes. 

How about term limits? The required level of support would be the same as holding elections.

Harper didn’t ask the Supreme Court about changing the balance of the Senate to better reflect Canada’s population, but that would likely require unanimity as well.

Solving the age-old Senate question, then, will not be easy. But for the sake of our democracy, it’s time for change. 

What should we do? More importantly, what should Carney do?

At a time when Canadians feel that there is so much beyond our control – trade conflicts, geopolitical conflicts, rising prices, a falling dollar – maybe it’s time to put some questions before Canadians. 

Back in 1992, former prime minister Brian Mulroney set a precedent by putting the Charlottetown Accord to a national referendum. 

Some 34 years later, maybe it’s time for Canadians to go back to the ballot box and weigh in on the future of our democracy. 

Carney should put a series of questions before Canadians. He should put forward options to fix the Senate’s three most fundamental problems: the lack of elections, the lack of term limits, and the lack of regional balance. And, if enough Canadians in enough provinces support change, Carney would have a mandate to change the constitution and fix Canada’s broken Upper Chamber. 

Canada’s Senate is broken. And, quite frankly, when one compares it to Upper Chambers in other Anglo-American democracies, it is beyond antiquated and is failing to fulfil an important purpose. 

After 10 years of fake Senate reform, it’s time to finally embrace serious change.