There’s the Senate bat-signal, so here we go again. On Evan Solomon’s radio show, Liberal Senator David Smith suggested that if Trudeau does not appoint a Government Leader in the Senate that it will create frustration in the Chamber if they have no means by which to hold the government to account, and that they could – if it got that far – start to stall or even vote against the government’s legislation as a protest. Mind you, as these things do, the headlines hype it up, but it does point to problems that I outlined in my National Post piece earlier this week. And because I know that some people have suggested it, no, just calling ministers before committee is not enough as it robs the daily exercise of accountability that is Senate Question Period of meaning (as Smith suggested), and those appearances might happen every couple of months. The existing protocol is for the Government Leader to have access to the same briefing books as the Prime Minister. If senators are to do their job of sober second thought and accountability, they need access to information on a timely basis, and the government leader, if he or she can’t provide that answer immediately, takes it under advisement and gets a written response as soon as possible. They have a job to do and they need information to do it. The threats over the past couple of weeks, as overhyped as they have been, have awakened Andrew Coyne’s concern trolling over the Senate’s veto powers, because he apparently doesn’t believe they should have enough power to push back against a majority government when necessary, and would rather the courts do it years down the road. Meanwhile, Senate Speaker Housakos has said that he plans to propose the creation of an arm’s length spending oversight body to give guidance to the Internal Economy Committee, but we have no details on this yet. I would once again caution that we need to ensure that the Senate remains self-governing for the sake of parliamentary supremacy (argued here). I would still like to see Senator McCoy’s proposal for a Senate audit committee comprised of three senators, an auditor and a former judge as the best solution, but I guess we’ll wait to see what Housakos’ proposition is.

Good reads:

• Rona Ambrose and Mike Lake are adding their names to the interim leader list.
• A group that helped overturn the prostitution laws before the Supreme Court are threatening to launch another Charter challenge.
• Here is a look at what the decision to add more trainers in Iraq as we pull out the CF-18s might look like.
• Most Greens seem content with Elizabeth May’s leadership, despite their flagging poll numbers.
• There are questions as to whether the Liberals will keep CSIS’ new disruption powers when they revamp the anti-terror laws.
• Voter data from the election shows that the Liberals largely managed to engage non-voters more than they took votes from other parties.
• Kate Heartfield writes about the importance of gender parity in cabinet. (All potential ministers are currently getting extensive background checks as we speak).
• Andrew MacDougall gives some reflection on his time in the PMO and how it poisoned itself.
• Susan Delacourt goes through decades of sore winners in Canadian parliaments, and cautions the new Trudeau Liberals to avoid more of the same.
• Chantal Hébert notes the continued declining fortunes of sovereigntists in Quebec.

Odds and ends:

Rideau Hall has put out an infographic to show how the swearing in ceremonies will take place on Wednesday.

Pamela Wallin says she intends to return to the Senate when Parliament resumes, even though the RCMP investigation into her expenses remains open.

Defeated NDP MP Ryan Clearly is going to try running for the provincial Progressive Conservatives.

https://twitter.com/davidakin/status/660142748872212480

https://twitter.com/davidakin/status/660173286085697536