A step towards Senate reform was taken on this date in 2014 by future Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Elected his party’s leader only the year before, Trudeau made the decision to allow only elected MPs as part of his caucus.
"The Senate was once referred to as a place of sober, second thought,” he told the media. “A place that allows for reflective deliberation on legislation, in-depth studies into issues of import to the country, and, to a certain extent, provide a check and balance on the politically driven House of Commons. It has become obvious that the party structure within the Senate interferes with these responsibilities."
As Prime Minister, Trudeau has continued this practice, even creating a non-partisan advisory board on Senate appointments that is made up of federal and provincial representatives. The jury is still out on how successful the PM’s reforms have proved to be.
Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.
Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.