CREDIT: SEN.PARL.GC.CA
Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau announced that all Liberal senators will now sit as independents.

On January 29, Federal Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau announced that the 32 Liberals within the Senate would now be independent, beholden to no political agenda. The strategy is being bandied about within the political sphere as experts try to decide whether it was a stroke of genius or idiocy.

The Senate has recently been a source of controversy, particularly for the Conservative Party, as a handful of Conservative Senators were found guilty of false expense claims. As a result of those fraudulent expense claims, the Auditor General, Michael Ferguson is in the process of examining expense claims for all members of the senate. This audit is one potential contributor to Trudeau's strategy of eliminating a Liberal connection with the Senate, as there's little doubt that more senators will be found to have submitted faulty expense claims. Prime Minister Stephen Harper came off looking duplicitous and untrustworthy over his handling of the $90,000 cheque paid to an embattled senator, and now Trudeau may have devised a way to avoid a similar experience. By eliminating the role of Liberal Senator from his Caucus, nothing from the Auditor General's report will be able to reflect poorly on the federal Liberal Party.

NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair is eager to see the whole institution of the Senate thrown out. Prime Minister Harper has asked the Supreme Court of Canada to provide recommendations on how to make the Senate a more democratic house. Alberta is the only province that votes to elect Senate nominees and Harper has suggested extending this practice to the rest of the country. Despite the political popularity of attacking the Senate, Trudeau has spent less time addressing the controversy in the upper house than other party leaders. Although dismissing his senators appears to be revolutionary, the NDP was the first to suggest it back in October of 2013 when it found little support in the House of Commons.

The long-term implications of eliminating senators from his Liberal Caucus remain to be seen for Trudeau. His failures to introduce a Liberal agenda for change in the Senate makes the announcement seem like a popularity tactic more than a strategic decision. This perspective is further validated by the NDP bill last October that was designed to make all senators non-partisan, yet failed to get support from the Liberal party. Despite that, Trudeau is encouraging the Conservative Party to join him in releasing senators from their caucus. The Liberal Party's dramatic entrance to the Senate debate could be a strategic decision to provide a third option that doesn't include eliminating the Senate, yet still seeks to make it less partisan. On the other hand, their announcement could be a hasty attempt to seize some of the media attention that the other parties have been enjoying in light of their own Senate announcements.

Trudeau's legacy remains in its infancy and this could be the first decisive indicator of what kind of legacy it will be.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.