The Liberal Senate caucus is dead. Long live the caucus of liberal senators. Justin Trudeau stripped the capital L from 32 senators this week, tossing them into independence in a bid to aid bipartisanship, and possibly his election chances.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and NDP Opposition leader Thomas Mulcair shared a rare moment of solidarity in mocking Trudeau's move, albeit for different reasons.
Mulcair has given up on the Canadian government's chamber of sober second thought.
There are compelling arguments for terminating the upper chamber, including the essays inadvertently authored by ousted senators Brazeau, Wallin and Duffy.
However, even amidst a scandal that stretches from fraudulent addresses to the Prime Minister's doorstep, making substantive changes to the senate requires opening up the constitution. In Canada's history, that has been like opening up a surgical incision with a spoon.
Trudeau's decision leaves many unanswered questions about the future of the Senate - how it will operate, what roles an "independent" senator can play and where it fits within the overall topic of senate reform. These are all questions the now liberated senators must also be asking themselves.
Whether this is just another move in a game of political chess or an earnest attempt to make changes to the Red Chamber, which Canadians widely agree are needed, there is one certain thing: in one day, Trudeau has done more to reform the senate than Harper has done in almost eight years as Prime Minister.
