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Almost as interesting as what is in the agreement is what wasn’t. According to a second source familiar with the matter, the ISG led by Sen. Yuen Pau Woo, who took up leadership this fall, was seeking rule changes to give it powers only available, in the past, to government: rights to move for time allocation and closure in the chamber. This was rejected, along with the idea that all groups should be able to add ex-officio members to committees who could show up at meetings and add their votes to the pile, roles traditionally reserved only for government and opposition.

Once the Independents have a majority in the chamber they could vote together to create such rule changes anyway. That could happen sooner than later, with 10 vacant seats Trudeau can fill and several senators up for retirement.

What makes life difficult for Trudeau is that by his own design, there is no government caucus in the Senate tasked with helping Liberal bills along. There is only a representative, Sen. Peter Harder, and two deputies. These three could move time allocation if they wanted, but they have no one to whip into voting “yes.”

Photo by Dave Chan for National Post

An agreement that continues giving more leash to the independents comes at a crucial time, as the Senate is set to receive — and study in committee — several major bills the government hopes to pass by the Christmas break.

Soon the Senate will start looking at the two bills related to legalizing recreational marijuana: Bill C-45, which creates the regulatory framework for cannabis sales and enforcement, and Bill C-46, which overhauls impaired driving laws.