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http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/justin- ... -1.2515273

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau is removing senators from the party caucus and forcing them to sit as Independents.

The move, a bid to reform the Senate, blindsided both Liberal senators and veteran political observers.
■Mobile users watch the announcement here

It will see some life-long Liberals and key party operators and fundraisers effectively expelled from the party's caucus and forced outside its inner circles.

The Liberal leader is scheduled to talk to reporters in the foyer of the House of Commons starting at 9:30 a.m. ET.

Trudeau's surprise move Wednesday morning came as all parties held their caucus meetings in Ottawa.

Those meetings typically include both MPs and senators.

Long-running scandal

There are currently 32 Liberal senators who sit in the Upper House as official members of the Liberal Party and represent the party's positions and political interests.

Those senators also sit and vote on Senate committees that do important political work reviewing legislation.

It's not yet clear how, or even if, the Liberal Party intends to maintain its political power inside the Senate.

The Senate scandal that has dominated political news in Ottawa for more than a year has had political implications for both the Liberal and Conservative parties.

Although most of those senators under investigation are former Conservatives, the Liberals have not escaped being tarred by the scandal's politically sticky brush.

Former Liberal senator Mac Harb has been accused by the RCMP of committing fraud by filing inappropriate expense claims, according to documents filed in Ottawa court.

A Senate committee investigating senators' expenses ordered Harb to repay more than $230,000.

He retired in August after paying it back.

Canada's auditor general has been called to audit the Senate's spending — including the expenses of all senators.

That review is currently underway.


'The Senate is broken and needs to be fixed'

- Justin Trudeau, Liberal leader

Trudeau's move could serve to isolate the party from criticism if any of its — now former — senators are found to have had spending trouble.

The move stunned both Liberal senators and senior Liberal Senate staffers, who had not been advised of the decision.

Sources tell CBC News Trudeau advised senators of his decision just after 9 a.m. Wednesday. Trudeau is said to have read a copy of his statement to senators.

Sources say Liberal senators listened and did not ask questions.

Only one senator rose to speak.

In a news conference just a few minutes later Trudeau explained why he had made his decision.

"The Senate is broken and needs to be fixed," he said
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"They're not mine"! The Liberals are all innocent I tell you"!!


lol what a lite weight

   

It's too bad CBC isn't covering this. Must get their marching orders from the LPC.

   

LOL yeah they're promoting it like he's some kind of Political hero.

Quick burn the barn before someone finds the dead animals....!

   

Can anyone say..........drama queen.

   

Good idea if his plan is to get an anti-senate plank put into the platform. Good optics to exploit the sentiment after the Duffy/Wallin/Harb/etc debacle.

   

Quebec will never go for it.

   

Nor the East.

   

I like it. I think going with independent non-partisan senators is the best and easiest solution to a lot of the issues with the senate. But he probably should've talked a bit about it and warned people before doing it. This way he's likely to just make enemies of his friends without gaining many other friends in the process.

Hopefully Harper will do the principles thing and try to follow suit in some way to further the cause of senate reform. Most likely he'll play politics though.

   

I like it too.

It's a great idea if the Conservatives follow suit as Trudeau challenged Harper.

And if the appointment process is truly public and transparent, Trudeau is correct again - we can transform the Senate into something most of us would agree is a better tool than what we have had since Confederation.

Having said that, I'm not holding my breath that Harper will match Trudeau and this will essentially be meaningless unless the Liberals form the next government.

   

Harper can't do the same thing. Ever. Because Justin did it first, so that can never look good for the Harper.

Harper will do exactly what he probably set out to do, abolish the Senate to give Parliament and the PM more authority.

But yea, a non-partisan Senate without party control would be the right answer to the Senate problems.

   

phht it's horse hockey. Some shit is about to hit the fan with the "LIBERAL" senators expense accounts and he's trying to distance himself from the BS. "they aren't Liberals! I waved my magic wand and abolished them'.

If Harper did it first your opinion would be 100 percent reversed.

Who is this "NEW" not partisan board to choose senators going to be made up from? How much will that cost?

   

"But yea, a non-partisan Senate without party control would be the right answer to the Senate problems."

Hum, that just might work in the US also. Kinda like the idea .

   

   

If that happens, then you're right, it is a cynical and BS move. However, I'll wait and see.

Just because you automatically see Trudeau as cynical or evil or whatever, doesn't mean I see Harper the same way. I certainly don't like him or his leadership style, but I don't automatically hate everything he does. I have liked some of his decisions (getting rid of income trusts was certainly a good idea), but I also question a lot of what he has done. That's the whole point of a democracy - to be free to critique the government.

Had Harper done this first, I would have applauded it too. If he follows Trudeau's lead, I'll also applaud it.

As for the process for appointing new senators, we will have to wait and see, no won't we.

   

Not elections?

   

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