A growing number of independent senators will mean big changes to budgets, rules and procedures in the Upper Chamber, says the first ever government representative in the Senate.
Peter Harder, who is among seven new Senate appointees announced last week by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, told The West Block’s Tom Clark that defining his job, and those of a new crop of independent senators, is still “a work in progress.”
The only thing that is clear at this point is that they are not to be subject to the whims of the Trudeau government, he said.
“But let’s be clear, my role also is to represent the government in the Senate and to ensure that the business of the government is appropriately dealt with by the Senate,” Harder noted.
“Where appropriate, it ought to be improved. Where necessary, it ought to be advanced.”
Harder said there is still no firm plan for how the growing group of independent senators (there will now be 19, excluding himself) or his own office might receive funding, as they are not officially members of a caucus. There is also the question of how the new Senate might appoint committee chairs, and whether all the independents senators will be able to sit on committees.
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The current rules will obviously have to be “adjusted” to reflect the fact that a significant number of Senators are now independents, Harder predicted.
Asked by Clark whether he would ever lead a rejection of Liberal legislation in the Upper Chamber, Harder was cautious.
“I would have to participate, and I also have a role of reflecting back to the government the views of the Senate,” he said.
“I think we’re all going to have to work together as people of good will, to sort of say ‘How does an institution whose rules and approaches have been framed by a very partisan approach … deal now with the freedom and the responsibility to act independently?'”
The Liberal government launched a new process in late 2015 for selecting senators. A special advisory committee is now responsible for drafting a non-binding list of candidates for any Senate vacancy, which is then handed over to the prime minister, who makes the final selection.
Trudeau has argued that this removes some of the partisanship from the selection process without the need to amend the Constitution.