Debates over the legitimacy of the Canadian Senate have been ongoing since its creation. In a democracy, should an unelected body have and wield the power to amend or defeat legislation emerging from an elected body? Should senators restrict themselves to sober second thought that is akin to administrative compliance officers, or should they be proactively legislating on issues of concerns to Canadians? In this article, the authors suggest that recent reforms to the Senate’s appointment process and the emergence of a significant number of senators without partisan affiliation present an opportunity to demonstrate the upper chamber’s utility to public policy creation. The authors point to Senate public bills (SPBs) as a tool to advance important policy ideas that may not otherwise be top of mind to the government of the day. Although SPBs were in existence and widely used prior to recent Senate reforms, the authors contend the non-partisan origins of many recent and current SPBs mean they may have different benefits, including: actualizing or accelerating the realization of specific government proposals included in electoral platforms or ministerial mandate letters; tackling policy blind spots and emerging issues that the government fails to address; and drawing attention to, and initiating public debate on, novel ideas, long-term legislative evolution, or politically difficult topics to expand the “Overton Window” in Canada. The authors conclude that SPBs offer “excellent policy value” for Canadians and, if not stymied by internal vetting or horse- trading politics, could go a long way to moderating public cynicism about partisan politics.
Hon. Julie Miville-Dechêne, Hon. Ratna Omidvar, Jérôme Lussier and Paul Faucette
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