Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau says he is prepared to appoint members of other parties to the Senate if he becomes prime minister and won’t restrict Senate appointments to Liberals.

Speaking during the popular Radio Canada television show Tout le monde en parle, Trudeau said he wants to change the way people are named to the upper chamber and he would make Senate appointments after consulting others.

“I will name senators in a process informed by a consultation — perhaps with the provinces, perhaps with the population overall – to have good people who will serve their country well.”

Sitting next to Quebec singer Dan Bigras, Trudeau said his Senate appointees wouldn’t have to be politically neutral.

“Not necessarily without any allegiances. If I were tempted to name someone like Dan Bigras or Jean Charest – I know he wouldn’t want it, he has done his years in politics… he is a Conservative but he would have a political allegiance,” Trudeau said in the interview aired Sunday night.

“Would I have to name only people who were from my political party and not another? I don’t want to stop people from serving the country according to their values but for me, (I want) to consult, to do it in a transparent way, to have a better quality of people who will be concentrated on the wellbeing of their region and their country.”

Trudeau explained his decision to eject Liberal senators from his caucus, pointing out that they may have been expelled from the Liberal caucus but they are still free to be members of the Liberal Party.

“I don’t decide who can be a member of a political party but I can decide who will be part of my parliamentary team.”

While prime ministers have tended in the past to appoint members of their own party or people who weren’t politically involved to the Senate, there have been occasional exceptions, such as former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin’s decision to appoint Conservative Hugh Segal to the Senate.

Trudeau faced a wide range of questions during his appearance on one of Quebec’s most popular television programs — from his opposition to Quebec’s Charter of Values and tolls on Montreal’s Champlain Bridge to whether he thinks NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair is a good politician.

However, some of Trudeau’s sharpest criticism was reserved for Prime Minister Stephen Harper – accusing him of using the Israeli and Palestinian conflict for domestic political advantage.

“My big disagreement with the Conservative government today is that they are making support for Israel a domestic political issue and not a position of principle. We are all in favor of a friendship, of a respect, of a recognition of Israel and of support for Israel as a democracy in the region. That doesn’t mean that we aren’t critical regarding the settlements and other issues.”

“But for Mr. Harper to make that a polarizing issue in Canada, I don’t think that is in the interest of Israelis or certainly in the interest of the Palestinians.”

Trudeau said he would prefer to see a two-state solution with a free, democratic and secure Israel and Palestine. However, he said that requires direct negotiations between the two.

Asked about events in Ukraine, Trudeau first attempted to make light of the situation.

“It is very worrisome, particularly since Russia lost in hockey, they will be in a bad mood and we fear Russian involvement in Ukraine,” Trudeau said in the interview pre-taped Thursday evening before the weekend’s dramatic turn of events.

Trudeau then acknowledged it was an extremely serious situation and called on Canada to do more to halt the violence.

Asked about his plans to legalize marijuana, Trudeau said the current system isn’t working and Canadian teens top a list of 29 developed countries when it comes to smoking marijuana.

Trudeau said he would like to regulate and control marijuana sales and purchasers could be required to show ID.

While Trudeau has admitted to smoking pot, including once since being elected MP, he said it has never been his “kick.”

“I prefer a glass of wine or a Labatt 50,” Trudeau said. “Because of me…the Parliamentary Restaurant now serves (Labatt) 50.”

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Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story mistakenly translated “colonisations” as colonizations instead of settlements.