Article content continued

While the new senators have largely voted with the government on legislation, there’s no one whipping them to do so, and they’ve been encouraged to take seriously the Senate’s mandate to provide “sober second thought.”

As a result, sources inside the Senate say, not only are government ministers lobbying individual senators more than they would have in the past, so too are actual lobbyists.

The more points of independent decision-making you have in the system, the more touch points there are when you’re making representations on behalf of your issue and your industry

Says Yaroslav Baran, a principal with Earnscliffe Strategy Group, “this is the new normal” as the Liberal Senate reforms take hold and the chamber continues “on its way to becoming a chamber of free agents.”

“(The increase in lobbying) doesn’t surprise me one bit. I think it’s a reflection of the new role that the Senate plays in the new equilibrium of how parliament functions,” he said.

“The more points of independent decision-making you have in the system, the more touch points there are when you’re making representations on behalf of your issue and your industry.”

Although the newly-empowered Senate could choose to defeat a government bill, that hasn’t yet happened. One government lobbyist, however, told the Post that senators may be lobbied to do so.

“It’s a useful avenue for introducing amendments and delaying bills that might be coming from the House,” said the lobbyist. “Independent senators present their own opportunity because there’s no traditional allegiances there, so they can kind of work on their own.”

Another lobbyist told the Post that senators have become more open to amending legislation. In the past, lobbyists would sometimes target senior senators who had the ear of cabinet. Since the Senate’s Liberals no longer caucus with Liberal MPs, however, that avenue is no longer open.