Reviving Canadian Bicameralism: The Non-partisan, Complementary Senate

• Author: Gary William O'Brien
• Pages: 77-86

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Reviving Canadian Bicameralism: The

Non-partisan, Complementary Senate

On  January , Justin Trudeau, then Liberal leader in the

House of Commons, issued a statement saying that “the Senate is

broken and needs to be f‌ixed.” Canada’s second chamber, he claimed,

was suering from two central problems: partisanship and patron-

age. Outside of reopening the Constitution, which he felt Can-

adians did not want to do — “ey don’t want a long, rancorous,

and likely pointless debate with the provinces that would distract

us from focusing on more important problems” — his remedy for

repairing the Senate was to make it a non-partisan, complement-

ary institution. It would be composed of “thoughtful individuals

representing the varied values, perspectives and identities of this

great country” who were “independent from any particular political

brand.” He committed to changing the process that saw senators

“appointed by one person, and one person only” and promised to

put in place “an open, transparent, non-partisan public process for

appointing and conf‌irming Senators.”

He also noted that “as an unelected body, there are — and ought

to be — limits on the Senate’s power. ese limits have expanded

over time and become conventions. ese proposals are in keeping

with that direction.” Eective immediately, Mr Trudeau stated only

elected members of the House of Commons would serve in the