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Previous efforts to change the rules for governing the Red House have not passed parliament
Publication date:
May 4, 2022 • 3 hours ago • 3 minutes reading • 56 comments House of Representatives leader Mark Holland: “This act allows for the recognition of the new Senate configuration as more and more independent senators are appointed.” . Photo by Patrick Doyle / Reuters / File
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OTTAWA – The changes, which will officially recognize new groups in the Senate, will give their leaders higher salaries and say more in the way the Red House is governed, are buried in the Liberal Budget Bill after previous efforts to change the rules did not lead through parliament.
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Currently, Senate rules recognize only two organized groups in the House: the government and the opposition. But the Senate has changed dramatically since Trudeau’s Liberals came to power with 60 senators appointed through a new non-partisan process who identify neither as government nor as opposition.
The Senate now has four separate groups: the Group of Independent Senators (ISG), the Group of Progressive Senators, the Group of Canadian Senators and Conservatives. The Conservatives are the only group still affiliated with a party in the House of Commons.
Although it is the largest group, the ISG is not considered a government, but instead a handful of senators act in this role to pass legislation through the chamber.
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The leader of the government’s parliament, MP Mark Holland, said the budget bill cemented the changes the government wanted to make in a more non-partisan Senate.
“There are a variety of different senate groups, potentially new senate groups in the future. So this act allows for the recognition of the new Senate configuration as more and more independent senators are appointed, “he said.
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Senator Raymond Saint-Germain, an ISG facilitator and de facto leader of the group, said he welcomed the long-overdue changes.
“The law reflects the reality of the modern Senate and gives instruments and powers to any recognized group in addition to those of the government and the opposition,” she said in an email Wednesday.
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“Currently, 80% of senators are independent, but without these changes, the rules reflect the time when the Senate consisted of nearly 100% of senators who were members of two political groups.
Legislation comes with a price.
In addition to the senator’s basic salary of approximately $ 160,000, the new legislation offers additional funds to other group leaders. The leader of the largest group, the Independent Senators Group, will receive a $ 42,000 raise, and the leaders of the smaller groups will receive a $ 21,000 raise.
Currently, only the government representative and the opposition leader receive a supplement of just over $ 42,000.
The new bill will also ensure that various groups in the Senate are consulted when the government makes appointments as the new chief auditor and ethics officer.
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The proposed changes were first considered in the last parliament as part of their own bill, passed by the Senate but died on the commission document when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called elections last summer.
Hollande said that given the financial implications, it makes sense to include these changes as part of the budget bill, and it is more effective. He said he was confident that the new version of the Senate was here to stay, and those changes simply acknowledged that.
“It will take a long, long time to start appointing senators on a more partisan model to repeal it, and I also don’t think that reflects what Canadians would like to see.
The only officially guerrilla group in the Senate are the Conservatives, who have up to 16 members. The Independent Group has 41, the Progressives 14, the Canadian Senators 12 and 15 vacancies.
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Conservative Senator Don Plett was not available on Wednesday due to a series of votes in the House, but he spoke about the original bill last spring and said that while he generally supported it, he rejected the idea that the bill would make the Senate less partisan.
“ISG likes to tell everyone that it is not a party, but that is simply not true. Again and again, they have proven this by supporting government legislation. This is hardly surprising, given that they were appointed by a liberal government that shares their liberal views, “he said.
“This bill does not make the Senate more independent. The Senate has always been independent. Prime Minister Trudeau failed more or less. The Senate gains its independence from the fact that senators are appointed, not elected.
• Email: rtumilty@postmedia.com | Twitter: ryantumilty
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