The Senate will confirm or reject the declaration of a Public Order Emergency in the next few days
If it is Confirmed, the Canada I grew up in no longer exists
This motion was approved in the Senate:
Canadians should watch the debate and contact each Senator with their views on this important matter. Contact information for each Senator is provided here. Canadian Senators are appointed to provide a sober second thought to acts of Parliament in general and the Emergency Act in particular (by its own terms) and are expected to exercise that power reasonably. They can be influenced by partisan politics but can vote against their own party affiliation without fear of their tenure being shortened although parties can use other tactics to attempt to coerce senators to follow the party line.
Likely for this reason, many Senators eschew party affiliation and are identified as part of an Independent Senators Group or a Canadian Senators Group. I have written about how our current slate of 105 Senators have described themselves by party or as independent members with a clear majority claiming independence. As a result, the invocating of the Emergency Act is not going to be “rubber stamped” although there is evidence that Senators are coming under pressure from the Trudeau government to do just that and are frustrated by that pressure.
The Senate vote on this declaration of a national emergency in the face of a peaceful protest devoid of any material violence will not only test the integrity of the Senators but also test the integrity of our system of government and the Senate as an institution.
I expect our Senate will have a solid reason for its judgment on this important motion and will support that with reasons most Canadians will accept as sensible regardless of how they rule. My own view is the use of the Emergency Act should be defeated, but the Senators will benefit from more information than held by the public and may come to a different answer. As long as they do come to their anwers based on facts, law and common sense, our institutions will survive. Otherwise, Canada is lost.