QUESTION PERIOD — Democratic Institutions
Senate Appointments
May 9, 2019
Honourable senators, I asked Senator Harder last month about the Senate appointment advisory panel not updating its report since 2017. Lo and behold, the 2018 report appeared on the web site in a few days; it was like magic. When I asked you in 2016 which organization sponsored the first seven Trudeau-appointed senators, including you, you provided the names of those organizations within two days. Voila. But when I asked you last fall who sponsored the last 16 senators appointed, it took you five months to give me a non-answer, now citing privacy and confidentiality.
The Trudeau government’s new Senate appointment process was changed in February 2018 to allow nomination by organizations and by individuals. Some 1,700-plus organizations have sponsored candidates for Senate appointments but the Trudeau government still has not revealed the list of individuals who also sponsored nominees.
Senator Harder, will you please tell Canadians this information now or will you continue to hide behind the fake Trudeau transparency independent Senate illusion?
I thank the honourable senator for her question. It is, for the most part, a repeat of questions that were asked earlier this week. For that little bit which is new, I’ll make inquiries.
Senator Harder, it is imperative that Canadians know exactly who sponsored sitting senators, who have direct influential on crafting Canada’s laws. You are the Trudeau government’s leader in the Senate. It is your responsibility to answer that question.
As you know, Senator Harder, the Senate Ethic Officer’s disclosure summary form for senators does not require a senator to disclose who sponsored his or her appointment to the Senate. That information is not publicly available. In the name of transparency, will you tell us which individuals recommended sitting senators for their appointments?
Currently a sponsoring organization would be disclosed but a key individual in an organization would not be. For example, if SNC-Lavalin sponsored a Senate nominee, it could be disclosed, but if the CEO of SNC-Lavalin, as an individual, sponsored a Senate candidate, it would not. Because we don’t know which individuals have sponsored sitting senators, some of those sponsoring individuals might be lobbying those same senators on current legislation in this chamber.
Senator Harder, we need to know who is on that list of individuals: People with major Liberal Party ties? Members of the Trudeau Foundation? Lobbyists for corporations or organizations with obvious political agendas?
Canadians deserve to know. Why are you trying to hide it?
Again, this is a question that I’ve answered several times. Let me simply say that the appointment process that has been put in place is one that the government is proud. It continues to provide the Prime Minister with nominees for consideration to appointment. Forty-nine appointments have been made in this fashion. I would also point to a recent survey of Canadians by Nanos Research which demonstrates 77 per cent of Canadians support the nomination process. About 7 per cent agree with you.
