The Conservative Party of Canada is calling on Liberal leadership candidates to oppose Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s alleged plan to stack the Senate with Liberal partisans shortly before his resignation.
The party said that to shield democracy, Trudeau should wait until a general election so that Senate appointments occur while a government with a public mandate holds office. Instead, as originally reported by CBC, Trudeau plans to fill ten Senate vacancies.
These vacancies will be filled with Liberal partisans who won’t need to retire until they’re 75 years old, said the Conservatives.
“This is just another instance of classic Liberal party arrogance that Canadians have become used to after nine years of their government,” wrote the Conservatives in a press release. “The last thing Canadians need is more lame-duck senators tied to Justin Trudeau who pretend to be independent.”
The selection process is reportedly already underway and the Senators should be appointed before Trudeau’s resignation officially takes place upon a new Liberal leader and prime minister being named on Mar. 9.
According to CBC, Trudeau has appointed 90 senators since he took power in 2015, at which point there were 22 vacancies. The ten positions to fill as of Feb. 2 are due to retirements. Comparatively, former prime minister Stephen Harper appointed 59 senators during his nine years in office.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith formerly said that Trudeau appointing “left-wing partisans” over the province’s elected nominees was undemocratic. Trudeau appointed two senators he chose who both previously contributed to the Liberal Party of Canada instead of the two who won nomination via the province’s non-binding election.
“Both of them should be sitting representing us in Ottawa, as opposed to a radical, extreme, LGBT activist, as well as a radical extreme fundraiser for the Liberals for a long time,” said Smith of her overlooked candidates.
This was not the first time Trudeau overlooked Alberta’s Senate elections. Hehas a history of appointing Senators with partisan ties to the Liberals.
CEO of the Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights, Rod Giltaca, warned of the development.
“Stacking the Senate with dangerous lunatics has consequences. No other government has acted like this in the history of the country,” said Giltaca. “Trudeau continues to prove he is as malevolent and toxic as his critics say he is.”
The Conservatives called on Liberal leadership contenders to speak out against the Senate stacking immediately. The party also requested hopefuls to leave the appointments vacant until a new government is elected.
The party called out one candidate by name.
“Instead of continuing to hide from the media, Carbon Tax Carney must immediately tell Canadians whether he will oppose Trudeau’s lame-duck appointments in the Senate,” said the party. “If he is not on Team Trudeau, he will say publicly that these new appointments should wait until after a new government receives a democratic mandate from Canadians.”
Various Conservative MPs echoed the concerns of the party and Giltaca.
“Trudeau is hellbent on entrenching his damning and radical policies for decades to come through this wave of handpicked appointments,” said Conservative MP Dan Mazier.
Conservative MP Dan Albas highlighted that the prorogation of Parliament did not affect the ability to appoint Senators.
“The great arrogance to do this on the way out the door. This is a man who knows no shame,” said Albas.
Smith made a similar analogy about Trudeau regarding the oil and gas cap.
“Once again, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is putting reckless policy ahead of the needs and concerns of everyday Canadians. I made note that he would do this on his way out the door. It’s like a bad renter who’s burning the furniture on their way out,” she said.
True North reached out to Carney and Trudeau for comment but received no reply.
