Senators make room for independents on Senate committees
Change opens the door to committee assignments for the 21 independent senators
In an historic decision, Senator Claude Carignan, the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, and Senate Liberal leader James Cowan have announced their caucuses will each give up a slot on Senate committees to non-aligned senators.
Committees are where much of the Senate's work takes place — with committee members studying legislation, investigating policy matters and examining government spending proposals.
Non-aligned or independent senators were not usually assigned to Senate committees — an issue the Senate is having to confront as the current Liberal government implements a new non-partisan Senate appointments process.
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Independents now represent the third largest group in the Senate with 21 members, but that number could overtake the number of Liberal representatives as early as this summer, as up to 22 vacancies are filled in the coming months.
In a joint letter to the Senate's selection committee, Carignan and Cowan asked chair Elizabeth Marshall to solicit interest from non-partisan senators and appoint them to committee slots as soon as possible.
On CBC News Network's Power & Politics Monday, Marshall said the decision to offer spots to Independents was done as a sign of goodwill from both caucuses, and in recognition of the large number of non-aligned senators who were previously underrepresented on committees.
According to the letter, the two spots per committee to be reserved for independent senators will be determined by the non-partisan senators themselves in an effort to best reflect their background, expertise, and gender with regional representation and relative standings in the Senate. Senate committee membership ranges from nine to 15 depending on the committee.
Marshall told Power & Politics host Rosemary Barton she does not foresee the Senate eliminating partisan caucuses all-together in the near future, however it is moving forward towards independence.
The two caucus leaders said their joint decision is a recognition from both partisan sides of the Upper Chamber of the need to ensure the changing makeup of the Senate is reflected and represented at the committee level.
Cowan, appearing with Marshall on Power & Politics said, "I think all of us believe the Senate needs to be more independent than it is."
New appointees eligible
This decision comes just a month after Prime Minister Trudeau named seven new non-aligned appointees. The new senate members include former Ontario NDP cabinet minister Frances Lankin, university administrator Raymonde Gagné, refugee advocate Ratna Omidvar, La Presse columnist André Pratte, Justice Murray Sinclair and Paralympic Chantal Peticlerc. Former senior civil servant Peter Harder, who also helmed Trudeau's transition team, was name the government's representative in the Senate at the same time.
This decision opens the door for any of Trudeau's new appointees to sit on committees and influence legislative decisions.
Clarifications
- A previous version of this story said that non-aligned or independent senators were not formerly permitted to hold membership in Senate committees. In fact, they are allowed and some did serve on committees in the past, but the usual practice was for Liberal and Conservative Senate leaders to assign their own senators to committee seats.Apr 19, 2016 10:37 AM ET