New Senate Appointments Stir Controversy: What’s the Debate About?

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s latest appointments to the Senate have been met with criticism from various sectors of society, including a provincial premier.
Wells is an associate professor at MacEwan University described by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) as an “educator, a scientific expert, and champion for the 2SLGBTQI+ community.”
The PMO, Fridhandler, and Wells were contacted for comment but did not respond by publication time.
Two weeks before the Alberta appointments, former broadcaster and political commentator Charles Adler was appointed to represent Manitoba in the Senate and hospital executive Tracy Muggli got the nod for Saskatchewan.
Trudeau said at the time party affiliation interfered with the Senate’s duty to provide proper checks and balances and amplified the prime minister’s power.
Candidates to the Senate are currently reviewed by the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments, which makes short-list recommendations to the prime minister. The appointments are formalized by the governor general.
The Conservatives reacted to the latest appointments by challenging the independent label.
“The reality is that nearly every person [Trudeau] has appointed is in fact a Liberal Senator,” Sebastian Skamski, spokesperson for Tory Leader Pierre Poilievre, said in a statement.
Skamski said Adler has been using his public voice to support Trudeau and attack the Conservatives.
The assembly asked Trudeau and Gov. Gen. Mary Simon to rescind the appointment, saying it views it as a “step backward in the ongoing efforts towards reconciliation and the recognition of First Nations rights in Canada.”
Though the ratio would appear to favour the Liberal government, the Senate has shown some independence from the House. During the previous Parliament, Bill C-10 to revamp the Broadcasting Act faced Senate opposition and died on the order paper when an election was called.
Senators asked for amendments in its new iteration, Bill C-11, with the House accepting some of them before the bill became law in 2023. The piece of legislation gave the CRTC regulatory power over some internet content.
The private member’s bill from Conservative MP Ben Lobb was part of the Conservatives’ push against the carbon tax, a key Liberal policy.
The amendment kept only the drying grain aspect and the bill was returned to the House of Commons. There, the Liberals control the legislative agenda and can let the piece of legislation wait until it dies on the order paper when the next election is called.
The next election could see the Conservatives win a majority based on current polling, in which case Poilievre would face a Senate largely composed of Trudeau appointees. The lack of formal ties to the Liberal Party, however, could reduce the potential for confrontation.
“It’s a much more fluid and open place than it was when I first arrived,” he said.
Tannas was appointed by then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who had attempted his own reform of the Senate.