right now, i'm more concerned about passing legislation. this is the kind of thing i expected to see in the last week of his mandate, not the first week. so, i'm just glad the process is moving - that they're serious about making sure nothing gets stuck in the senate. that sounds insane, and it would be insane, and nobody would react in any way short of disbelief, but a lot fuzzy thinking could have interpreted it as a way to make the opposition look bad.

again: my primary concern is that it seems like they're focused on governing rather than politicizing the issue further, and that is a positive sign.

as for the proposal?

it seems symbolic, or at least does from those four points. i would have thought it would be formalized through the civil service. we'll see how that works.

basically? whatever.

i need to be clear that this was not a significant election issue, to me. not even top twenty issues. might make top 50, barely. the only way it worked into my thinking at all was in the context of being equally strongly opposed to an elected senate and an abolished one (but i would have considered voting ndp anyways, because i knew they couldn't do it). i would have actually preferred to vote for the status quo on the senate, if the option were available. the liberal ideas were preferable to me, simply for the reason that they were the closest to the status quo.

but, it otherwise had absolutely no effect on how i voted.

my primary concern is that their position on the senate does not become an albatross on the government - that it does not slow down legislation, or otherwise interfere with their ability to implement the substantive parts of their platform. this is a step in that direction, and that is good.

www.cbc.ca/news/politics/senate-advisory-board-non-partisan-leblanc-monsef-1.3348531

Johhnyb
Non-partisan is non-partisan. I would think that a partisan senate could slow down bill passage if it's partisan in favour of the opposition and could not do due diligence if it's partisan for the gov't. We'll always have Progressive and Conservative thinkers in the Senate and that's great. Now we will have senators appointed on merit not partisanship. You have to admit this Trudeau approach is the best yet and is doable now. Of course only time will tell.

jessica murray
i don't share your perspective on rejecting partisanship. when i hear terms like "bipartisan", what comes to mind is the idea of a corporate oligarchy controlling both sides of the debate. it's basically equivalent to doing away with the democratic process altogether, and placing power in the hands of the elite. this is not something that has helped obama, or made him appear in a more positive light to voters. rather, it's fueled a lot of apathy in government. americans thought they were electing a progressive democrat and instead got a moderate republican. it's emboldened the right, and collapsed the base. it's really a disaster, and trudeau should really be learning from this in trying to avoid rather than trying to emulate it. it plays right into the left's narrative that conservatives and liberals are basically the same thing.

i think the best way for left leaning policy makers to get their initiatives across is to start from a position to the left of where they really are, and let the debate pull them into where they actually are. ceding ground to the right merely shifts the entire discussion to the right. and, the liberals have hopefully learned that you can't do that in canada and hold power, because we don't have a two-party spectrum.

but, even if you could convince me that bipartisanship is a good idea, it's a ridiculous premise to begin with. even if you can drop the actual parties (and that's not within the realm of possibility), you're still left with convictions. or, at least, i hope we're still left with convictions. otherwise, we collapse into oligarchy.

we're consequently not really being given a choice between partisanship and non-partisanship. we're being given a choice between democracy and oligarchy.

i would prefer to see a liberal dominated senate that rubber stamps legislation than see that legislation slowed down and cut-up by a conservative body that pretends that it is somehow "non-partisan". and, if that body ends up rubber-stamping legislation, then it is not "non-partisan", either.

that's fine. like, i say - whatever. i don't care. i just don't want to see bills that i support sent back.

i'll acknowledge that the idea of putting limits on patronage appointments is a positive idea. i can't remember who it was, but harper actually appointed somebody that didn't know how to read. that is utterly ridiculous. it is a good idea to ensure that there are higher standards...

but, partisanship itself? that's not a bad idea, at all.

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yokelman
The PM and MP's should not be allowed to appoint senators, the senate members should be voted in by the people and have an 8 year term limit.

jessica murray
yeah, then we can get absolute gridlock like in the united states. in the process, we can completely ignore our constitutional history, which explicitly attempted to prevent this.

great idea.

in fact, here's a better idea: why don't we just elect senators to their senate?