We told Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that this independent Senate of his would bite him on the ass. And it happened sooner than anyone expected.
But to make the point on the assisted dying bill was pure justice. The Senate has challenged Justin on a key provision of this ill-considered bill. It is the very restrictive clause that was to keep people who might be depressed from their illness from calling it quits prematurely. The government bill was restricted to people who were sure to die shortly anyway.
It seems that the ‘Independent Senate’ was going along with many Canadians who cared about this bill. Justin’s Catholic sentiments aside, this was not what the Supreme Court had in mind when it insisted on Canadians having a say on life-ending decisions. ‘Severe and intolerable suffering’ is cruel and untenable in the 21st Century and cuts a broader swath than the Trudeau cabinet might want to go.
But it is Justin’s Senate now and he better just suck it up. He stupidly kicked all the Liberal retirees from the Liberal caucus and told these loyalists that they were no longer Liberals. And he hurt more than a few feelings in the process. To make matters worse, he sent a retired civil servant to the Senate—and at a nice stipend—to run the place. You just knew how that would work out.
And the Senate was just testing the waters when it sent the one amendment to the House of Commons. This was just the litmus test. If Justin and his gang reject the change, it will be war. If they do an end run and accept the change, the Senate wins and the government will be in danger with every single bill it sends to the Upper House.
And do not forget, the Senate can come up with some bills of its own. That will be the end of ‘Sunny Days’ for our boy leader.
Like it or lump it, our boy leader needs to accept the fact that his solution to the Senate is a crock. It does not make sense and does not work—at least for him. He needs to re-address his solution. He has either got to win some friends in the Senate and add enough other friends to control the damn place, or find another way to fix it.
The point is that somebody has to act responsibly. Our suggestion was that we ask all senators to resign and let all the political parties appoint replacements (until the next federal election) equivalent to their percentage of votes in the last federal election. That way the parties will be responsible for the Senate and the public will know who to blame if things do not work.
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Copyright 2016 © Peter Lowry
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