Those seven new independent senators are now sworn in and installed, and it seems the Conservative spared no time in trying to insist that they were all secretly Liberal partisans, particularly the new “government representative,” Senator Peter Harder. In response to questions during a restored non-ministerial Senate QP, Harder said that he was recommended for appointment by the Institute for Research on Public Policy, and that he had no communication from the government about it. He also claimed he didn’t intend to be partisan, but be a kind of bureaucratic presence who could field questions on behalf of the government, while relaying concerns to cabinet on occasion. Harder also said that the new practice of bringing ministers to the chamber to answer questions would continue, and be expanded to 40 minutes, which is not a bad thing. What I am a bit more concerned about is the fact that Harder is talking about making amendments to the Parliament of Canada Act to start formalizing some of these changes that Trudeau has imposed on the Senate, but I’m not seeing much in the way of collaborating this with the other efforts to modernise the Senate’s operations. That this would be a discussion around the cabinet table and not involve senators themselves, based on Harder’s statements, is concerning because it does seem like meddling in the way the Senate operates – something Trudeau has already been doing with little regard for the consequences – despite the fact that none of them are in the Senate, particularly under this new regime. I don’t want to go so far as to say that he’s meddling in the Senate’s privilege, but it’s getting close to the line in some cases. The Senate is the institutional memory of parliament, and is supposed to have a longevity for a reason, which is why Harder insisting that it’s not unusual for governments to tinker with the Act to reflect stylistic preferences rubs me the wrong way. I also have some sympathy for the concern that “government representative” is a fairly American term that’s not really reflected in our Westminster traditions (though perhaps Australia’s “Washminster” system may find a more analogous term. We’ll see what Harder starts implementing soon enough, but I do retain a sense of scepticism.

Good reads:

• The Commons held an emergency debate last night on the situation in Attawapiskat.
• Surprising nobody, Nathan Cullen is now mulling a new leadership bid. Mulcair, meanwhile, meets caucus about his “caretaker” role.
• As mentioned in QP, there are shortages of judges in this country, but the government is delaying appointing them because they’re starting a new process.
• The Minister of Defence quickly but the kibosh on the idea of privatising search-and-rescue.
• A Canadian Forces investigation showed there were no orders to cover up child sexual abuse in Afghanistan, but there was confusion reporting it up the ranks.
• Justin Trudeau was among four Liberal MPs who missed their election expenses filing deadlines.
• It looks like Stéphane Dion approved the Saudi LAV sale in April, not that it was a done deal. Dion later turned over documents to The Canadian Press.
• The Conservatives are trying to get the revenue minister to Finance Committee to answer about the KPMG situation.
• The government plans to spend some $62 million to create a network of electric vehicle charging stations around the country.
• Susan Delacourt laments the loss of the per-vote subsidy as a fair fundraising system rather than wheedling emails that appeal to hotheads.
• My column on Loonie Politics looks at the course the NDP must chart moving past Mulcair’s leadership.

Odds and ends:

The laws around registering births for LGBT families in Ontario are being challenged in court.

Stephen Harper have his first speech post-election defeat…to Republicans in Vegas.

Senators are re-opening the investigation into the leak of the Auditor General’s report.