Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Honourable senators, it is with a mix of sadness and hope that I rise today to speak on the Trudeau government’s Motion No. 165 to change the Rules of the Senate.
I am sad because I think some of the changes brought forward by this motion are detrimental to the Senate and the Canadian democratic system, and I am sad because the precedent created by Senator Gold with his motion marks the end of a Senate that was functioning in some ways outside of partisanship that we now see in the House. I will elaborate on this in a moment.
As I said, I’m also hopeful because I think this is the last act in this lousy drama of Justin Trudeau’s attempt to reform the Senate. Let’s be clear: This is Justin Trudeau’s attempt. The end is near for this government, and Pierre Poilievre will soon be given the mandate to repair this broken country. One of the things that Justin Trudeau broke and that Pierre Poilievre will have to repair is the Senate of Canada.
Contrary to what Senator Gold and the Liberals would like us to believe, Justin Trudeau did not come up, in 2014, with an elaborate plan to throw the Canadian Senate into the 21st century. His plan was done on a napkin out of political expediency and under pressure to come up with a gambit that would protect him from going down with half of his caucus.
The vast majority of you were not here in 2013 when the Senate had to deal with some senators having dubious expenses, but let me briefly explain to you what happened. For those senators who were here, this will help refresh your memory.
Four senators were named in the media for having questionable expenses. One of them was a Liberal, who quickly decided to retire. When the Conservative government decided to act and suspend the three other senators, Justin Trudeau instructed his Liberal senators to abstain on that vote. Half of the caucus did not follow his orders.
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Trudeau was furious. He sent Dominic LeBlanc, his trusted henchman, to organize a coup in the Senate Liberal caucus. George Furey was to replace Jim Cowan as leader. That failed.
That made Trudeau even angrier. He knew that the Auditor General inquiry would show more of his Liberal senators having questionable expenses. So he decided to throw them out of the caucus, to send them into exile. That was done unceremoniously. Senators Jaffer, Cordy, Ringuette, Downe or Massicotte could all tell you more about this meeting on a cold Wednesday morning in January 2014 when Liberal senators learned who the real Justin Trudeau is. Those senators who had worked tirelessly for the Liberal Party were discarded like nothings, thrown to the wayside by Justin Trudeau on his way to power.
It was after they decided to throw out their senators from caucus that the Liberals came up with a plan to change the Senate without really changing it. The idea that being part of a national caucus made the Liberal senators less independent is a sham. The Liberal senators that were here when I came, such as those I mentioned, and further - Cowan, Joyal, Baker and Fraser - all of them were strong and independent thinkers. In fact, as I just said, it is because they did not follow Justin Trudeau and because they were independent thinkers that they were tossed aside.
There were two objectives to the plan that Trudeau concocted in 2014.
29 апр 2024
